The Thing
by Wanli8970
Summary: There's a mystery that's hidden inside the walls of Lewis Manor. However, the dark secrets of this Manor proves to be no problem for the Gang as they stay inside the Manor during a sereve snowstorm. During their stay, Ash begins to experience strange and horrible visions that are connected to the Manor. Can his friends save him or will the manor continue to haunt Ash?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hello! Some of you may know me for _Spider-Man: The True Hero of the Civil War_ and/or my Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossovers. Well, I'm back with my solo Pokémon story! This is going to be my first time writing a horror genre, and I'm very excited for this. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I think now I'm publishing it here on .**

 **For those who are wondering, I originally posted this on DeviantArt. So, those who have read this on DeviantArt (looking at you, Steel) you don't have to comment on this and please don't spoil anything for those who have watched it. *Does eyes on you gesture***

 **Anyway, I guess I should give a little information on this story. This tale was based off some RPG Horror Games that I've come to love; _Witch's House_ , _Mad Father_ , and _Corpse Party_. So, just a bit of a warning, this is going to get gory soon. But enough of that, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _Prologue_

 _October 21st, 1901  
Lewis Manor  
11:55 PM_

Maya Lewis look at the old grandfather clock that stood in the middle of one out of hundreds of bookshelves in the library she spent most of her time inside this ginormous mansion. Even though she has already read almost everything in here, Maya couldn't help but read all the fascinating stories over and over again. However, the grandfather clock that's standing right in front of the desk she's sitting by says otherwise.

Sighing, Maya place the bookmark inside the book she was reading before placing the book back in the shelf she had took it from. Once that is done, she removes her glasses from her face and puts them on the table she was sitting near before walking out of the library. All though she sometimes wonder why her parents would want to buy a mansion that feels like a maze you can never get use too, Maya is just glad that the library isn't so far from Tommy's nursery, which is only just a few doors down.

Once she reaches the white door that leads to the small nursery, Maya gave a quick few knocks.

There was a light sound of shuffling, but the door didn't open.

Maya once again gave the door a few knocks.

Still nothing.

"Tommy?" Maya calls out as she continues her light knockings in hope to gain her brother's attention from his playtime. "Tommy? Are you in there?"

There were more sounds of shuffling before she finally got the answer that brought the end to her rising nerves. "Yeah, I am, Maya!"

Sighing to herself, Tommy always does anything he can just to give her a heart attack. "Tommy, it's nearly midnight. Time to go to bed! You don't want me to explain to Mother and Father why you stayed up late again, do you?"

"No!" More sounds of shuffling came from the room. "I know Mommy and Daddy don't like that, but give me a few more seconds, Maya!" For a moment, Maya could have sworn she heard a candle being lit.

"Tommy... What are you doing?" Maya asked slowly, a wave of dread suddenly colliding against her brain as many horrible scenarios began to play in her mind. A huge part of her wanted to slam the door open and see what her brother is doing, but that small part of her that wanted to let Tommy tell her what he's doing won since using force has always frighten him. She waited patiently for him to respond.

Luckily, he did after a few seconds. "It's a surprise! Just a second, I promise, Maya!"

"What?!" Alright, forget about not using force for a moment. Hearing those words can bring up a lot of horrible scenarios and Maya didn't want any of them to be true. "Tommy!" She tries to turn the doorknob, but her eyes widen when she finds out it didn't move one bit. "Tommy, did you locked the door?!"

"Just a few more seconds! Please, Maya?" Although she can practically hear the begging in his own, that didn't stop Maya from being less concern about her little brother's well-being. She tried with all of her might to get the door to budge, but it seems it won't be opening unless the person on the other side opens it, which probably won't be in the time that Maya wants it to be.

"Tommy, open this door right this instant!" Maya screamed, now giving up on trying to open the door and instead pounding on it with all of her might. She had a sort of a feeling on what he was planning, so Maya couldn't help but blame herself for letting this continue on further. Maya knew her brother had some sort of a problem, but she didn't realize giving Tommy that gift could make things worse. "Tommy! Open the door!"

"Maya..." Maya slowly stops her intense pounding on the door when she hears the broken and sniffing voice of her brother. "D-Don't you trust me?" At that point, she could feel her own heart broke right there and then.

"Oh, Tommy, of course I do..." She said in a calming tone she always uses to let Tommy know there is nothing wrong. "You know I'm just worried about you."

"It really is nothing bad, Maya!" Tommy's voice calls from the door in hopes to reassure his sister, although it still didn't get rid of the small dread Maya's feeling. "I promise, you'll like this surprise! Please, just give me some more time."

Maya desperately wanted to go with her instincts and try to find some way to stop what her brother's doing, her brother's problem has only gotten worse and she knew at this point things have gone too far. But... There's always that other side of Maya that's willing to go with her brother's strange ideas because she knows it makes him happy. Their parents haven't exactly been supportive of Tommy's condition so Maya has been the only one to do so, but that didn't mean she likes some of the things.

With a heavy sigh, Maya finally voices her answer. "Alright Tommy, but as soon as you're done you open this door!"

"Yay!" She heard him cry from the door. "You'll love this Maya!"

"I hope so..." Maya mumbled underneath her breath. With one last sigh, Maya places her back against the door before sliding down until she's sitting on the floor with her back against the door.

At this point, Maya didn't know what to do with her brother anymore. Claiming to "see" the supernatural is a great offense and she knows her parents aren't willing to risk their family name because of Tommy's condition. However, Maya doesn't want to send her brother to an Asylum. He doesn't deserve it for something he can't control, he's only eight for crying out loud! She thought giving that doll would make Tommy feel better about himself, have something to talk too about all of this when she can't. Granted she's not the world's best sower, but Tommy loves it nonetheless so she thought it would help him. However, she didn't suspect it to makes things worse.

Maya runs her hands through her raven-colored hair. What is she going to do with Tommy?

 _Ding. Ding_

Maya looks up when she heard the sounds of the old wall clock in the hallway. Turning to her left, she notices how late it's gotten when she sees the two arms joined together with them pointing upwards.

 _12:00 AM_

BOOM!

Maya couldn't help but jump when she heard that loud explosion coming from behind the door. Even now she can still feel the vibrations coming from it as she stood back up and pound on the door, furiously. "Tommy? Tommy! What happened in there?! TOMMY?!"

A moment of silence made Maya instantly panic. She pound the door harder. Oh, why did she agree with all of this in the first place?! She kept pounding on the door. "TOMMY!"

"... I-It... It worked..." Maya cease her pounding when she heard that barely audible whisper that belongs to her brother from behind the door. Despite that small explosion, Maya could hear the disbelief and wonderment in Tommy's voice and found herself instantly calming down. From the sound of it, Tommy didn't appear to be hurt, just completely speechless at what he had done for her surprise. Speaking of which, that brought a thought that she previously failed to ponder, what exactly is Tommy's surprise?

"Ha... It worked!" Maya quickly drew back into the present when she heard her brother's excited squealing and hearing the door unlock. Stepping back so she doesn't get hit by the door when it suddenly opens, Maya looks down to see Tommy smiling up at her with a ginormous grin on his face as his big, amber-colored eyes stare up at her full of complete innocence. "It worked Maya!"

"Tommy, what did you do?" Maya demanded as she makes her way into her brother's nursery, with Tommy moving backwards to let her in with the smile never leaving his face. "You know how Mother and Father don't like it when you playing, with..." She trails off once she catches the state of the nursery and finds herself at lost for words.

The once bright and colorful room of Tommy's nursery has completely been covered in soot, probably from the explosion she heard earlier. Everything inside the room has turn into an ashen color, from the walls, to the pictures that Tommy drew before, to all of his little toys, and all the furniture around them. On closer inspection, Maya could notice a few layers of powder on some of the furniture.

However, the room's state became the last thing on Maya's mind when she notice the thing that was probably the caused of the explosion from before. Right there in the middle of the room is a devil's star, one that she had read about in her books about the supernatural. She couldn't fully understand what it really does, but she knows it has something to do with Dark Magic. And there it was, in the middle of the room, drawn in lilac chalking with unlit candles of the same color stood on each point of the star, where she can see light smoke coming from them, indicating that they were once lit before the explosion.

Forget about their parents sending Tommy to an Asylum, they'll downright kill him for this!

"Tommy, what have you done...?" Maya asked, her voice lowering an octave, still completely shock at the scene before her. Her hands subconsciously grabbing her little brother's arm tightly as her eyes are still glued to the scene. Whatever he has done, all she knows that she needs to get him away from what he's done.

Tommy, however, failed to notice the distressed look on his sister's face and only smile brighter as he grips his little hand softly on her arm. "Ta-Da! Do you like the surprise? I know you put a lot of time and effort on making him, a-and I wanted to make sure he looked the same!"

Maya found herself freezing as she listens to her brother's words. Him? As far as she knew of right now, there were no other servants inside the manor and Tommy said she made "him". Now that she thinks about it, Maya has only made one thing for Tommy and that's... No. Tommy couldn't have. There was no way.

Taking another look around the room, Maya tries to catch a sight that was familiar underneath her hands before she gave him to Tommy. After a few quick jerks of her head, Maya's gaze return back to the devil's star where she found herself jaw-dropped and her eyes almost literally pulled out of their sockets once she realized what she's seeing on the devil's star. Since she was so focused on the devil's star itself in the room, she didn't even get a chance to look at the thing on the devil's star.

Standing there in the middle of the devil's star was no longer the little humanoid doll that Maya had given to Tommy, now it has become something entirely new. No longer was it a little doll, it has become tall, completely towering over her and is now hunching its back so it doesn't hit its head on the ceiling. It's completely skinny, almost skeletal, but it did look quite human due to its physical structure. Although it appears to have normal-looking hands, its fingers are longer and bonier than a typical human being. What really sent shivers down her spine was its face. It was blank; no mouth, no nose, no facial features. The only thing that thing did have are its eyes, which didn't make her feel any better. Maya remembers she didn't have much to use for the eyes other than two yellow buttons and decided to use them for the eyes. Now she's no longer looking into the two small button-eyes, but two, glowing, golden-orbs that appear to be staring deep into her soul. It didn't help that the thing's entire skin is as black as the deepest darkest night.

If Maya didn't knew this was the same doll she made for Tommy, she would have lifted Tommy off his feet and run out of the manor as fast as she could away from this thing. How on Earth was Tommy able to give that doll life?

"-a nice spirit promise me he'll bring Willy to life! And he did! Look! Willy's alive!' In the midst of Maya panicking from the inside, she failed to listen to Tommy's explanation on how he brought Willy, the name he had given to the doll, to life. But at that point, Maya didn't care. She just grip her brother tighter and tries to slowly back him out of the room, away from this, thing...

"Tommy, I don't think this is a good idea..." She finally voiced her opinion on the whole situation, her voice sounding soft and meek as her gaze never left the soulless eyes of the former doll.

Tommy could feel himself frowning when he didn't see the excited expression he expected to see on his older sister's face. What's wrong? Does she not love the idea that it won't be just them anymore? They finally have someone to play with them other than those bland servants. So, why isn't she smiling?

Managing to twist his arm out of his sister's death grip on it, Tommy begins to walk over to Willy. "Maya, I know what I do looks bad to everyone else, I even know Mommy and Daddy don't like me for it..." Maya could feel her heart clench. Despite her attempts to reassure Tommy, she knew deep in her heart that their parents absolutely despise Tommy for his gift. "But that's why I brought Willy to life! We won't be alone anymore, Maya. Yeah, I get he's a big and tall, but we can find a place to hide him in the basement! Mommy, Daddy, and all the servants don't use that place for much anyway." Tommy suddenly stops right in front of Willy, who is now looking down at the small boy with a slight curiosity in his eyes. "Also, he's trained too! Willy, shake." Tommy stuck his hand out to Willy. Willy cocks its head slightly, its gaze staring intensely at Tommy's hand before bringing its enormous hand around Tommy's small appendage and shook it slightly.

"See? Willy isn't so bad, Maya. I promise I'll look after him if you let me keep him. Please, Maya?" Tommy practically begged, taking his hand out of Willy's hand to place it in his other hand and bows right in front of his sister.

The warning bells in Maya's head told her to say no. Say no and find a way to get rid of this thing. She remember that Tommy had said he made a deal with a spirit to bring Willy to life, and she knew making deals with a spirit is never a good thing. A spirit always want something in return and she isn't going to let her brother be part of some spirit's silly game. However, now that she takes a closer look at Willy, she couldn't really find anything dangerous about it. It has this look of curiosity and a complete innocence in its eyes as it stares at her, possibly wondering who she is and how Tommy knows her. While Maya doesn't trust the spirit that Tommy made a deal with, she supposed she could trust Willy. After all, it looked like he has his own conscious.

Lifting the multiple layers of her skirt up so she can walk over the devil's star's candle, Maya stops right in front of Willy with a welcoming look in her eyes. "Well, I guess it's okay to keep him as long as we hide him in the basement." She finally voices her idea, although it did sound sort of reluctant, but it was enough for Tommy.

"Yay!" The little boy shouted as he jumps up and down, barely able to contain his excitement. Maya finds herself smiling as well when she sees her brother like this. It always warm her heart to see her brother so happy like this. Her smile didn't waver as she turns her gaze back towards Willy, who is now staring at her while cocking his head to the side a little.

"It's nice to finally meet you in real life, Willy," Maya greets as she takes a few steps closer to the curious Willy. "My name is Maya, I'm Tommy's older sister and, I guess, the person who made you in the first place." With that, she stuck her hand out for a handshake.

Willy stares down at the young woman's hand with a slight interest. It's pale, just like the young boy's hand before, but the difference that Willy can see is Tommy's hand is small and smooth. Maya's hand, however, is bigger than her brother's and appear to have a few rough edges. Even just by the sight of her hand, Willy can tell it'll probably the most roughest hand he will ever feel. He can tell that this girl must have done a lot for this little boy, and for that, he likes her.

He clasps his hand with hers.

* * *

 ** _Daily News_**

 ** _Mysterious Deaths at Lewis Manor_**

 _Lewis children are found dead at the Lewis Manor at 2:35 AM, October 22nd. The youngest, Thomas James Lewis, eight years-old, was found dead holding a knife in his hands and with a stab wound to the chest. The cause of death to the oldest, Maya Jane Lewis, thirteen years-old, currently remains unknown._

 _Tragedy strikes the Lewis Manor when the children of James and Jane Lewis's children are found dead in Thomas's nursery. It is uncertain what caused these horrible tragedies, but investigators believe that the deaths were taken place between 10:30 PM to 3:00 AM that night. Although uncertain of how she died since there were no injuries, diseases, or poison in her system, investigators say that young Maya was dead before her brother. Young Thomas was found holding a knife in his chest, which brings up many questions. Did Thomas Lewis kill himself after seeing the deceased body of his older sister? Or is something more sinister afoot and Thomas was the one who somehow killed his sister and then committed suicide to avoid punishment? All of these are intriguing questions, but there is one mystery Kalos has yet to uncovered; How did Maya Lewis died?_

 _Mr. and Ms. Lewis could not be reached for comment._


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Wow... I just posted this two days ago and already I have 142 views, 8 followers, 6 favorites, and 2 reviews! Not only that, but this story is already in 1 community! Maybe I should post the stories I have on DeviantArt more often on !**

 **With all that aside, I just want to say thank you for all the support I got on the first chapter. So, I wanted to award you all with the second chapter of this story! Now, just to be clear, I don't have a full schedule on this because I'm still working on the other chapters I have back on DeviantArt. The only reason I wanted to post this is because I just finished the latest chapter yesterday. So here's what I decided, I will post chapters here on after posting the latest chapters on DeviantArt.**

 **So! Here it is, the first official chapter of _The Thing_. The Calm before the Storm. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It's official. They hate the winter season, no doubt about it. It didn't even matter all the snowmen they could build or all the snowball fights they can have, they didn't want _this_ much snow! After stopping at a Pokémon Center, they were told that there was going to be a small snow blizzard coming soon. Hearing that, they decided to get their winter clothes and continue on their way to Snowbelle City. They're beginning to think that the Weather Company got the weather wrong because this blizzard is anything but _small_. After their short, five-minute walk through the forest, snowflakes suddenly begin to fall at a pretty rapid pace. Soon they found themselves facing a full raging snowstorm, throwing thousands of bitter cold flakes on their faces, making them feel numb as they raise their arms in hopes to block the cold. Even though the blizzard has only started, already the group of children are trudging their way through three feet of snow.

"I can't see!" Bonnie cries from behind the group with her brother, who she's using to cover her eyes from the stinging snowflakes that are flying right into her face. Clemont has an arm wrapped around Bonnie in hopes to keep his sister warm while he had his other arm out in front of his face to stop the snow coming into his own eyes as well. Even with glasses on, the snow always finds a way to get into his eyes.

The one that's leading their little group through this disastrous weather is Ash, but even he is having trouble managing through the snow since the snow is blowing into his face full blast, the icy shards almost made tears run from his eyes if he didn't have his arm covering his face. The wind kept blowing against them as if it wanted them to stop and freeze to death. There were a few times where Ash had to stop to gather his bearings before continuing his trudge against the snow that's already freezing his feet. Pikachu was inside his backpack, doing anything it can to stop the bitter wind from slicing its fur.

In the middle of their group is Serena, who has her eyes shut tight with her mitten-covered hands in front of her face in hopes to stop the furies of snow from getting into her eyes. She couldn't take the cold anymore when she began to feel the wind pushing her back and forth against the snow. "How much longer do we have to walk through this?!" Serena screamed through the wind in hopes it reaches the person who's leading them all through this.

Even though he heard her, Ash didn't respond because he didn't even know the answer himself. The last thing he remembered, the next town was at least a two-day walk through the thick forest, and judging by the weather they're currently in, they won't even last two hours before they freeze to death.

Just before Ash could come up with something in hopes to keep everyone calm, he notices something up ahead. Despite the raging snowflakes making it difficult to see their surroundings and where they're heading too, but Ash can faintly make out the silhouette of a very large building that they're slowly coming up to. He didn't even know if it was abandoned or not, but he's going to take anything just to get out of this weather.

"Hey, I think I see a house!" Ash yells, hoping that his friends can hear him through the raging winds. Luckily they did as they look up and see the same silhouette that's faintly up ahead.

"I see it!" Bonnie cries out, looking very excited to finally be out of this horrible storm.

However, some of them didn't trust the house on the spot. And one of them is by the name of Serena as she frowns at what she's seeing right in front of her. "What's a house doing in the middle of the forest like this?!"

"I don't know and I don't care, all I care about is getting out of this awful weather!" Clemont yells after he felt the wind suddenly became stronger, almost sending him flying if he didn't dig his feet in the snow, but it only sent more shivers through him. He could feel Bonnie nodding her little head on his oversized-overcoat, and although he couldn't see it, Ash nods his head as well.

Serena's frown only deepen. For some reason, she didn't get a pleasant feeling once she first spotted the house. The strange part of all this, she feels like she seen this house somewhere before. Although she could only see the silhouette of it, Serena can feel it in her heart that she knows that house and it's anything but safe. However, seeing her friends already trudging their way to house, Serena had no choice but to the follow them.

As they continue their trudge, Serena's feeling of dread slowly rose as the house soon becomes slightly clearer from the thick snow falling. It wasn't even a house to begin with, it was too gigantic. Instead, Serena could see that the building they're heading to is a manor. An ancient one, that's for sure. Along the pale-gray walls that appeared to be somewhat holding this entire building together are small layers of cracks that appear on of the edges or just in the middle of the decaying walls. For some strange reason, there appear to be no snow on the manor, which, unfortunately, showed the ripped and decaying tiles of the roof that are ebony black. Serena found herself completely startle that she's able to see the windows through the thick fog created by the snow. They're horrible stained, having a slight tint of the worse shade of green she has ever seen, and Serena thinks that some of them are broken. It's pretty clear that this manor has been around for a long time and no one has even bother to take care of it, if there was someone even there.

But it wasn't just the manor that bothered her anymore, it was their surroundings that made Serena feel even more uneasy. By the looks of things, all the rushing snowflakes absolutely refuses to even touch the manor, they always seem to blowing in any other direction that's not the manor. What was it about this place that's making even nature to refuse its presents? Not only that, she's beginning to notice that as they continue to trudge through the heavy layer of snow, she can no longer see the faint silhouettes of the trees in the forest. Now it looks like they're walking through a endless oblivion of white and bitter cold alone. That thought sent shivers down her spine, and it wasn't from the weather that they're currently in.

Serena wanted to express her concern to her friends, but kept her mouth shut. Maybe she's being paranoid again. Besides, all those the other old places they've been too weren't so bad (Well, there was that time with that old man, but she's still convinced it was a dream). Not only that, but they are already at the pastel-brown, wooden steps that appear to be broken in a few places. They all climb the steps, ignoring all the horrible creaks that were made from their steps. Once they reach the old wooden porch, they all notice the blistering wind that they felt before is no longer blowing in their faces. Turning around in confusion, they could see that the storm is raging, but it's nowhere near this manor.

"That's strange..." Clemont murmurs while adjusting his glasses, but didn't press it any further. The rest of them decided to leave it that way as they turn towards the doors that are the entrance to the building. The doors basically tower over them, making them feel inferior and slightly nervous. It didn't help that the entire black door seemed to be cover in stains they couldn't even recognize. Despite that every part of them is telling them to leave this place, they knew they won't last another second outside this dreadful weather and need to take what they can get for now until the storm is over.

Being the daring one, Ash took a step forward and knock on the doors loud enough in case there's someone inside the building. "Hello? Hey! Is anyone in there?"

No answer.

Shooting his friends a quickly confused look, Ash turns back to the door and knocks on it again. "Uh, we need shelter until the storm blows over!"

Still nothing.

Frowning at the lack of answers, Ash was about to grab onto the handle to pull the doors open when just as his fingers brush against the old handle, he jumped a bit when he heard an unlocking sound coming from the inside the manor. With a slow creak that sent shivers up his spine, the door slowly opens, revealing an endless abyss of darkness. Not in the actual sense, though, they literally couldn't see anything in there.

Although slightly creeped out that the doors have somehow open by themselves with nobody inside the building, they didn't dwell on it for long as they enter into the darkness that has been awaiting them. If they have been paying attention, they would have noticed that they left the door open and some mysterious force slowly closes the door, locking it once it's tight shut.

* * *

Darkness. That's all that Ash could see. Complete darkness. There's no light, just an endless black pit. For some reason, it felt colder inside than it was out. Seeing the blackout and feeling the bitter cold made Ash feel uncomfortable. He couldn't even see his friends, which is what really scared him. "Does anybody have a flashlight?" He calls out, hoping he didn't get separated from his friends.

Silence meet him. Ash now felt his heart beating out of his chest, he didn't know why, but being inside this dark and cold building made him feel frighten, an emotion that he's not used too. Before he could call out again, his worries are instantly washed away when he finally got a response from Clemont. "I do!"

Next thing he knew, a bright light is suddenly shining right into his eyes that it began to hurt the second he looked right at it. He put his arm over his eyes and shouts out in an annoyed tone. "Okay, okay! I can see you!"

Realizing what he's doing, Clemont quickly shines the flashlight out of his friends. "Sorry!" He apologizes quickly with a sweat drop. Then he begins to shine the flashlight at the area around them. Thanks to the flashlight, they can definitely tell that they're in a hallway of some sort with a wooden floorboard that's broken in a few places that make it look like, or probably really shows, holes that appear to be heading to another endless pit. It didn't exactly make them feel comfortable since the floor keeps squeaking underneath their feet, almost like it's ready to collapse under their weight. Along the floor that almost reminded them of a path is faded-purple carpet that seems to lead into a room they couldn't exactly see do to the flashlight reaching its limit in the darkness.

"Hey, I found a light switch!" Bonnie's high voice suddenly breaks through the awful silence that's been plaguing them for a bit. The older kids then heard the sound of tiny feet moving away from them on the unstable floor.

Clemont couldn't help but feel himself sigh from his little sister's antics. "Bonnie, this place looks like it's been here for hundreds of years. I doubt that the electricity would even be-" Suddenly the area was no longer in complete darkness. In complete bafflement, Clemont looks up to see small lamps attached to the walls in a neat, but distance order. The shades look like they were once white, but the lack of care made them fade into a hideous shade of brown. While the lighting is somewhat dim, which was to be expected from the old electricity, they can definitely see the area around them.

"Well, look at that, the electricity here does work." Ash and Serena shot the blonde boy dry looks at the obvious statement before they and the siblings begin to walk down the worn-out carpet, hoping they can find a place inside this strange household to sleep and stay until the snowstorm outside finally relinquish.

They all stop once they reach what appeared to be both the living room and the grand staircase. The grand staircase appeared to be made out of wood, only this time it's a dirty white. The old carpet appears to stop right at the staircase before continuing it on upwards by the staircase. The staircase is gigantic in width, probably a carriage can run down the lower parts of it if it wanted too. At the top the staircase appears to be a small section of a hallway that appears to be a bridge of two other paths that lead to different hallways that they couldn't quite see due to the walls, which has a ripped-up and faded violet wall (they're beginning to notice that cold colors are a common theme in this household). At the tops of the stairs is a black desk, on top of it appears to be a vase of wilted roses. On the wall above it was something that they should have probably noticed first is a gigantic portrait of two people.

"Well, that looks like one unhappy couple..." Bonnie remarks playfully, making Serena almost burst into a fit of chuckles while the boys just give her faint smiles, not fully understanding the joke.

While Bonnie was only joking, her words unfortunately ring true. The man and woman in the portrait definitely don't look like a "happy couple." They didn't have one hint of happiness on their faces. Instead, they had stone-cold glares on their faces that almost sent a shiver up Clemont's spine while the man's brown eyes and the woman's dark blue eyes are nothing but dull, lifeless orbs starting back at them like stone statutes. Judging by the black clothing they're wearing, they appeared to be from the 1900s era when they were both alive. That, and also they can tell that those fake, white wigs and that horrible, pale makeup aren't around anymore, thank goodness. However, what confused and, somewhat, disturbed them is the lower part of the portrait. Up to the woman's waist that entire part was completely burned off. While they do understand that the portrait must be as old as this manor, they couldn't understand why the lower part of it was burned.

"I guess somebody didn't like those people..." Ash mumbles, coming up with a simple idea on why that portrait looks the way it is, although, hatred isn't usually the first thing that pops into his mind, he's not dense when it came to the harsh reality back then.

"Yeah, maybe..." Clemont said with a small adjustment to his glasses. He didn't exactly felt comfortable about the relationships married couples had back then, that thought always found a way to repulse him and always ruin his cheerful mood.

"Glad to know that we're not the only ones who think they're a match made in the junk yard." Then there's always his sister to cheer him up. The older children couldn't help but let out small chuckles from that. For a moment, they have forgotten the small feeling of dread they felt when they first enter this mansion and feel comfortable at last...

...Until Serena suddenly scream.

Everyone whip their heads towards their honey-blonde friend in a panic, wondering what caused her to scream like that. Seeing her right now they can tell something had obviously frightened her; Serena's eyes are wide like saucers, her pupils completely shrunken, her knees currently buckle together as they tremble rapidly, Serena's own hands are gripping each other tightly, trembling just like her knees, not to mention she looks completely pale.

"Serena?" Ash calls out to the frighten girl, trying to get her attention. When her gaze didn't move from the portrait, he tries again by putting his hand on her shoulder. "Serena, what's wrong?"

"I know where we are!" Ash flinches when Serena screamed in mid-panic. Not the answer he was hoping for, but he's going to take it since he got a response from her.

"W-Where, exactly, a-are we then?" Due to Serena's sudden scream, Clemont found himself frighten at the atmosphere around him. Something must have scared Serena to scream like that, and he's not looking forward to knowing what that is. Bonnie, however, looks calmer than her brother and is staring at her best female-friend with curiosity in her eyes as to wonder why she screamed.

"WE'RE INSIDE THE LEWIS MANOR!" Serena once again screams in her high-pitched voice as she whips her head to face her friends.

She got mixed reactions to that sentence.

One of those reactions was terror on Clemont's part; he then screams just as loud as Serena's first one before he begins to run around the room in circles, waving his arms around like a chicken trying to flap its useless wings to fly. Then again, the screams that the young genius is making do sound like a mix of his own puberty-squeak voice and a chicken's torturous croaking. Ash's reaction was one of confusion; he didn't know what the Lewis Mansion is and how this old place can scare Serena and Clemont like this. Bonnie's reaction was the most positive so far; she has this excited gleam in her blue-eyes while the young girl bounces on the balls of her feet.

"That's awesome!" She says eagerly before the young blonde stops her bouncing and her cheerful expression immediately turns into a frown as Bonnie regards her older brother, who is still running around the room like a chicken. "Clemont, do you really have to be doing that? The Lewis Manor isn't _so_ bad."

Clemont suddenly stops his small frenzy to glare at his sister. "What the- Bonnie! You know as well as I do I have a _very_ good reason to panic, same goes for Serena and you too!"

"Clemont, that happened a long time ago," Bonnie says blandly as she puts her little hands on her hips. "I doubt the same thing could happen to us."

"And you also know that it wasn't just that one incident that night is what's making me nervous!" He shots back.

"Like I said, it won't _always_ happen-"

"Okay, time out!" The two siblings stop their mini-squabble to see Ash, who was previously comforting the still-shaken Serena before having enough of the sibling's dispute and unanswered questions, his hands in the "timeout-gesture" as he stares at the two with a scolding expression. "Alright, what's going on? Why are you guys acting so weird? I mean, what's so bad about this place?"

"Oh, right! You're from Kanto, Ash!" Bonnie was quick to realize. "You don't know about the stories of the Lewis Manor because Kalos blocks it from all the regions so they wouldn't find out."

"So, what happened here, then?" Ash asked, now looking genuinely curious.

"Well, the story isn't exactly settling, Ash," Clemont remarks nervously but begins the tale anyway. "See, about a hundred and fifteen years ago, two siblings were found dead inside this mansion. The younger brother was said to have died from a knife-wound to the chest a-and, they found the same knife that kill him in his hands. T-That's not even the worst part, either! No one could figure out how the older sister died, they found her body with no wounds, internal damage, or even diseases! It was like her heart just stopped right there all of a sudden, even now, everyone in Kalos still can't figure out how she died!"

"So, the reason why you guys are acting weird is because a long time ago two kids died in this house?" Ash asked slowly, hoping that his words didn't sound rude. While he is horrified at the fact someone would kill two innocent children, he tries to mask his horror by keeping the topic back on his sort-of unanswered question.

"I-It wasn't just that, Ash..." A small voice speaks up. The three turn their heads around to see Serena, although still visibly shaken she looks more calmer than she was before. "Two days after those two died, their parents were found chopped-up into pieces. It took the police nearly a whole month just to find all of their body parts inside this house. And that wasn't just it! Five years after those deaths, someone went into this mansion but suddenly went missing. W-When they found her, a-all of her body parts were c-chopped-up like those people in the painting, a-and only her feet are still missing. N-Now, whenever someone enters this manor, t-they're always ended up in p-pieces, w-with a few pieces going missing sometimes." At this she lets out a small shriek. "W-What if, what if that happens to us?! We could be chopped-up to pieces and be stuck here _FOREVER!_ "

 _"AAAAAHHHHHH!"_

After hearing that gruesome story, Clemont quickly dives underneath the, surprisingly well-standing, coffee table that's on the left side of the grand staircase where the rest of the living room arrangements are like a Meowth that's been frightened by a loud noise. Which, by the way, is how he's acting right now with him chattering his teeth and his body shaking like an earthquake is taking place.

However, Clemont was the least of Ash's worries since he knows that Clemont tends to overreact over _everything,_ and he knows that Bonnie will take care of him. Instead, he turns his attention back to Serena, who is now covering her face with her trembling hands as she gives out the most unsettling whimpers he has ever heard from her. Seizing her by her shoulder, Ash tries to look at Serena in the eyes. "Serena, calm down! I'm a hundred percent sure that won't happen to us!"

"Besides, the last murder was fifty years ago," Bonnie speaks up, seemly helping Ash to calm the two down. "There's hasn't been anyone going missing and found in pieces for a long time, so the police thought the murder finally died." Her face suddenly turns into a frown as she turns her head to see her older brother _still_ cowering underneath the coffee table. "And will you get out of there, Clemont?!"

"A-Are you sure?" Came the meek voice of Serena, who let Ash remove her shaky hands from her eyes so he can look at her frighten blue orbs. Meanwhile, Bonnie was able to get her brother out from under the table by yanking his arm with all of her little strength. After Clemont dusts the remaining dust off his jumper, he and Bonnie walk over to the two.

The raven-haired boy just flashes her a smile that always made Serena's heart melt (she wouldn't _dare_ tell him that to his face, though) and says, "Of course, Serena! Besides, if anything bad does happen, I'll protect ya!" Now Serena really felt her heart melt to the bone just from hearing those words. For a moment, the honey-blonde girl wanted to tell Ash her feelings right there and then. She just couldn't imagine the world without Ash.

However, she just gives him a small smile. "Thanks, Ash..." Serena whispers to him, ignoring the clenching she felt in her heart. She couldn't tell him, not now.

"No problem!" Ash said, before turning back to the painting with a slight frown on his face. "I wonder who would do something like that to all of those people..."

This creates a silence amongst the children, even Bonnie wouldn't dare speak up despite her pervious excitement. Hearing about those horrific deaths made them completely horrified at thought of someone actually doing to those human-beings. While just seeing the couple gave them the idea that they were not good people, they still didn't deserve those kinds of deaths along with any other unfortunate souls who lost their lives in this house.

"We... We should probably go find where we're going to sleep until the storm blows over..." Clemont speaks up, breaking through the moment of silence that has confounded them for a few moments. With the rest nodding meekly, they begin their ascend to the grand staircase so they can reach the second floor.

The stairs sound just as broken as the floor they were previously on. With each step they took the wood creaks underneath their weights, giving them idea that the staircase could collapse at any moment. Luckily, they finally reach the top of the staircase, making them sigh in relief once they've realized that they're safe, for now.

Seeing that are two different paths from left to right, Clemont speaks up. "I think me and Bonnie will look for our rooms on this side." He points to the left side with his thumb.

"Sure," Ash said before he and Serena head down the right path.

"I call the King-sized bed if we find one!" Bonnie announces suddenly before breaking off into a run down the left path. Stammering once he realized that his little sister just left him alone in this creepy place, Clemont quickly runs after her, trying with all of his might to keep up with her.

* * *

Ash and Serena couldn't help but feel uneasy as open a few doors in hopes to find a place where they could sleep. However, the darkened hallway made it difficult for them to focus on finding their bedrooms. For some reason, they feel like they're being watched by something. While they do know that the murders were a long time ago and that the murderer is probably dead now, it didn't shake the feeling that something else could be watching them.

Turning the knob of another door, Ash opens it to the room, earning a small creak from the old thing. The room itself didn't look too bad. Granted, there are a few cobwebs here and there and the faded-blue wall paper looks ready to be torn off, but there is a queen-sized bed in perfect condition with layers of blankets and top being a navy-blue color. There is also a large window right by the bed's side. Even though the glass is dark, Ash can still see the raging snowstorm outside. All in all, though, the room didn't that bad for something that's as old as this manor.

"Hey, Serena!" The raven-haired boy pokes his head out from the doorway to see his female friend looking into a room across and two doors down from the one he's at. "I found my room!"

"Me too!" She calls back. "You want to call it in for the night?"

"Sure, night Serena!"

"Night, Ash!"

With that being said, Serena walks right into her bedroom before softly closing the door behind her. Ash followed suit with his own bedroom. Once the door was shut, Ash places his backpack down on the ground next to it so that Pikachu (who was still inside the backpack when they have arrived at the manor) can walk out of there, before flopping down onto the soft mattress of the bed back-first, staring up at the dark glass of his window where he can see the raging storm.

"Guess we're going to be staying here for a while, huh Pikachu?" Ash remarks to the Electric Mouse, who had jumped onto the bed and is now laying by his raven-haired trainer's side.

"Pika..." Pikachu nods his head after taking a peek of the storm. Sighing, Ash turns to his side while closing his eyes, hoping to get a few winks of shut-eye in this freezing-cold household.

If only Ash had kept his gaze on the window for a few more seconds, he would have noticed two, golden orbs staring at him from the dark glass. Those orbs narrow at the sight of him, as if deciding whatever or not it should do to him. The answer will have to wait once the clock strikes tonight.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Eugggggghhh! You guys won't believe how tired my hands are right now. I've just spent almost _all_ of my time yesterday and the day before just to finished Chapter 5 of _The Thing_. Now I know how Yandere Dev feels when you spend all of your time on thing for the sake of everyone else's interests. It's tiring on the body! Not the brain, my body's aching from backaches and hand cramps. Ouch...**

 **All that aside, I'm happy to introduce Chapter 2 of _The Thing_! Warning ahead, though, there is a scene that's completely gory and would have probably make this chapter M-Rated. So, if you're under 13 and/or haven't seen gory before (at this point, I think the teenagers of this world can handle adult stuff and a friend of mine watches series that involves gory in their time, so *shrugs*), I would suggest skipping when you see *GORE ALERT!*.**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: Ask and you shall receive, my friend. Sorry about the errors, I can't exactly make any promises about those things.**

 **Frost Glaive: It's nice to know that my story is interesting you. :) Thank for that advice. I'll be sure to use that in future chapters. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **charlie515: Thank you! :) The only thing that I can that isn't a spoiler is that Serena knows about the history because everyone in Kalos knows about the history. It's kind of a big thing, people getting murder by mysterious causes. You think everyone would know about it by now.**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: *Sighs and shakes head* What am I gonna do with you, Steel?**

 **Enjoy the chapter everyone!**

* * *

Despite the never-ending exhaustion that's been spreading through his body the entire day, Ash found himself unable to fall asleep. He let out a moan before turning to his side, hoping that would help. When it didn't, Ash sat up with a groan while rubbing his face. He couldn't understand why he couldn't go to sleep despite being extremely tired. A sudden chill crawls up his arm, sending shivers throughout his body.

Now he remembers the reason why; this place is freezing!

Ash rubs his arms pretty rapidly in hopes it could warm him up and get rid of the goosebumps that are currently invading his arms. When that didn't work, he decided to go to the fireplace back downstairs. He couldn't take this sudden coldness anymore, it's as if this Manor is trying to erase all the warmth he has left. After putting the blanket over Pikachu in hopes it can keep his buddy warm and puts on a blue robe just to gain back any warmth he's lost since this blizzard, Ash makes his way out of the room towards the grand staircase.

As he walks through the darkened hallway, Ash's mind is suddenly turned towards the story of what his friends told him about this Manor. The very thought of someone chopping an actual human being to pieces and hiding some of their body parts for no-one to find is absolutely sickening. Who in their right mind would do something like that? Somebody who lost his marbles, that's who. Ash thought with disdain.

Those thoughts have fogged up his mind, making him unaware of his surroundings. He didn't even notice that as he walks over to the couch that's near the fireplace, someone else is already occupying the couch.

Serena looks up from watching the fireplace when she heard the sounds of footfall coming towards her. Her face relaxes into a small smile when she sees it's the familiar raven-haired boy she's come to admire for years. "Hey, Ash."

Her voice was able to snap him out of his thoughts while Ash looks up to see Serena sitting on the couch, a blanket over her legs. She's wearing that new, pink nightgown that goes a little past her knees and a red robe around her. Thanks to the radiance of the fireplace, it gave Serena that glow he doesn't always see often but felt attracted to it nonetheless.

Too bad his thick head couldn't process what he's feeling when he sees Serena like that.

"Hey, Serena," He said while walking over to her. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shrugs. "The room was too cold, could barely sleep without being worried about frostbite."

"Same here." Ash points to the spot next to her. "Mind if I join ya?"

Due to his dense head, Ash failed to notice how Serena's face has gone red. "S-Sure! G-Go ahead!" Ash smiles as he took his place right beside her, pulling the blanket over his legs. Luckily, it was big enough for both of them. While he may have failed to realize how close they are, Serena did. Boy does she look like a tomato.

An uncomfortable silence washes over them, both wondering what can they say to each other in their current position. Serena seems to be the one who wants to talk the most but found her lips completely seal shut due to her embarrassment. Why did Ash have to sit so close to her?! And why does he have to be so warm?!

Meanwhile, Ash did seem like he wanted to talk, but didn't know what he could say. At least he isn't a nervous wreck like Serena. When it look like Serena isn't going to be saying anything soon, Ash took this chance to look at the living room again. Like before, it still retains its decaying position when he and the others first arrived, which he would kind of suspect since this place seem as old as his mother's grandfather clock. His glaze is then turned towards the painting back on the staircase, while the railings did cover most of it, Ash could see the cold eyes staring at him.

Thoughts about what happened inside this Manor instantly enter his head again. "Ya know, I wonder who in their right mind would kill all those people like that..."

Serena looks at him in a bit of a confusion before she follows his gaze to the painting. She mentally shudders when those cold eyes meet her own. "No one really did figure it out, Ash," she admits with a small frown. "The policed decided to say that the murder was some mentally-ill person and they died by natural causes." She looks back down at her lap with a lost look in her eyes. "The only thing that's really been bothering me is what happened to the Maya, the older sister."

Ash recalls the first victims; the Lewis Siblings. "Oh, yeah... Wasn't she the first one that died?"

Serena nods. "Yeah... No one really did figure out how she died. My mom told me she died of a disease, but I read those articles. She wasn't sick at all! It always bothers me how everyone knew how her brother, their parents, and all those other people died, but no one knew about her own death. I-It's like whatever happened to her, someone wants to make sure she's erased from existent." She quickly realizes she's rambling and looks at Ash sheepishly. "S-Sorry, sometimes I get carried away about that."

Ash just flashes her his trademark smile. "It's okay, Serena!" He could understand where she's coming from, he's beginning to feel bad about the older sister too. He couldn't imagine how the little brother must have reacted when he saw his older sister suddenly dead.

The silence washes over them once again, the two studying the flames inside the fireplace with false fascination. Suddenly, Serena's eyes began to feel heavy and were about to let sleep overtake when she heard Ash's voice. "You know something, Serena, I don't think that older sister is gone."

She looks at him in confusion. "Whadda ya mean?"

"I mean, she has her little brother, right?" Ash shrugs. "I don't think she's _completely_ gone as long as her brother loves her. I bet they're both happy that they're still together in the afterlife."

Serena could feel herself smiling. Leave it to Ash to bring the optimism back into the area.

The silence returns.

Until it was broken by a familiar rumbling sound.

Serena looks over to see Ash rubbing his messy hair sheepishly. "Guess I'm kinda hungry," he stands up and looks back at Serena. "You want anything?"

She shakes her head. "No thanks. But, Ash, I don't think you're supposed to eat before midnight. I heard it can ruin your appetite."

Ash just flashes her a grin. "Don't worry about me, Serena. My appetite will be fine." When he begins to make his way to the kitchen, he adds on, "Besides, I'm always hungry. So this really shouldn't affect me that much!"

Serena couldn't help but chuckle as Ash disappears down the dark hallway, he always knew what to say to make her laugh. Turning her gaze back to the fireplace, Serena watches the flames sway with her blue eyes, the fiery heat almost hypnotizing her. The warmth that's being produced instantly relaxes her frozen body. She could feel her eyes becoming heavy and her mind clearing up.

Her thoughts then turn back to Ash.

No matter what, she couldn't stop thinking about that raven-haired boy. His cheerful, toothy grin, his soft, but messy hair, to the little z-marks that make his adorable round cheeks stand out. Not to mention those eyes. A perfect shade of amber that is able to represent his natural positivism. Then there's his whole personality, kind, brave, selfless, and weird. She'll admit, some of the things he does are weird, but everyone's weird. Even she's weird sometimes. But all in all, though, Ash is just perfect. Perfect for her.

If only he could see her the way she sees him.

* * *

When he finally arrived at the kitchen, Ash was hoping it would look better than some of the areas he's seen in this Manor. And boy was he wrong.

Everything inside this room is colored in either black or dark-brown. Not exactly colors that he's comfortable with in a place like this. There's this black stove that's shaped weirdly with a pipe connected to the cement wall, and there's this small oven door that could probably fit a small apple pie. However, he didn't think Clemont and Serena could probably use it since the majority of it is covered in cobwebs, and something tells him that a certain genius wouldn't dare put his hands on that old thing even for all the money in the world.

Turning away from the stove, Ash took a look at the rest of the interior. Along the decaying walls are dull-brown, maple cabinets, which are broken in a few places. Below it is the counters where the chiefs probably use to prepare the food. In the middle of the room is a worn-out, wooden table with a few chairs placed like someone's expecting dinner, which he highly doubts since everyone who came in here before is already dead. Near the far-right corner of the room, a long, steel, black door is conveniently placed there. It didn't take long for him to figure out that's the entry to the pantry.

Finally, something that has edible food for him to eat.

He begins to walk to the door, his bare feet touching cold cement floor, possibly getting a few dust stain right on them. He probably should have brought some slippers with him when he left the room. Reaching the pantry, Ash wraps his fingers around the icy handle and gave it a small pull.

It didn't budge.

Ash frowns and tries to tug it a little harder.

The old door still didn't want to move. Then again, he probably should have figured. This place is hundreds of years old and the chances are is that some of the areas in this Manor haven't been touched in a long time, which would make sense why this door wouldn't open. This thing is rusted shut.

That didn't mean his stomach knew that.

Ash sighs as he turns away from the pantry and moves towards the door that brought him into this room. Maybe he has something in his backpack that can soothe his stomach, or maybe he can ask Serena to cook something up if she wants. Yeah... Since Ash was so caught up in his food fantasies, he failed to notice the door not moving when he pushed it and ended up walking right into it.

"Huh-?!" He looks at the door in surprise. Didn't he just walk through this thing with no problems? He tries to push the door again, but it didn't move. This time, he grabs the handles and pulls at it with all of his might.

Nothing. Not a single sign of budging. It's almost like this thing is locked from the-

The forming trepidation is instantly dispersed and is replaced with a smirk. "Oh, ha ha, very funny, Bonnie! Haunted place, trying to make me think a ghost locked me in here. You almost got me there! You can open the door now."

No response from the other side.

"Bonnie? The joke's over... You can let me out now!"

Still no response.

"C-Come on, Bonnie, you're not scaring me!" The stammer, in the beginning, says otherwise.

Nothing.

Just when he opens his mouth to shout at the little Blonde again, the words died in his throat when a chime enters his ears.

 _Ding._

 _Ding._

It's midnight.

 _THUMP!_

Ash felt his whole body stiffen at that sound coming from behind him. It sounded like a body falling from a tremendous height before landing on the ground with a sickening thud. Despite every instinct telling him to not turn around, his curiosity got the better of him and he turns in spite of his body's protest. At first, everything looked the same and Ash was about to think he was just imagining things if he didn't notice the pantry door open slightly.

He froze. Wasn't that locked-?

His legs began to move without him noticing, and when he did, his curiosity won over his instincts. By now, he's already a few inches away from the door and his hand is reaching out to the handle. "Hello?" His fingers gently brush against the dusty handle once again as he forms a good grip on it. "Is someone there?" He pulls the door wide open with a gentle tug, revealing the pantry.

His breath instantly hitches when his eyes lock onto something within the pantry, his eyes have shrunken, his whole body shaking, and his fingers trembling. No, please, NO!

Inside the pantry is a sight someone his age should never see, but he knew he would never forget it.

 ***GORE ALERT!***

Right there on the ground is a corpse, but not a full corpse. The corpse must have been split in half when the man, Ash assumed it was a man due to the black trousers and the old-timey shoes, died. The section that he's right now is the lower waist and nothing else, but that didn't make it any less horrifying. Sprouting from the corpse are lumps of meat, organs, and nerves, spreading everywhere from the body to the floor in a heaping pile of bloody mess. Streams of blood came surging out the intestines and spraying at the jars on the shelves inside the pantry, coating them in fresh blood. The worst and sickening part of all of this are the nerves, or maybe veins, now that he thought about it, are still pulsing. Pulsing at the speed of a beating heart, almost meaning that the man is alive, but barely.

 ***END OF GORE ALERT!, I think...***

Ash felt a scream coming along but it died in his throat the moment he felt it, the only sounds he could make are a mix between gagging and whimpering sound. The sight was too much for his positive, ten-year-old mind could handle, he didn't know what to do. Not even his body knew what to do since it remains frozen right at the spot where he opened the door. Oh, how he wish he could close it and force himself to believe that it was just a bad hallucination from the murder stories his friends told him about. But reality had to be cruel to him.

Finally, his body is able to move again, but not the way he would imagine. An immediate lurch forms inside his stomach, catching him off-guard, but he could feel the sour taste of bile coming from his throat and into his mouth. Just when he thought he wasn't hungry, the rising food is saying otherwise. His hands immediately threw themselves over his mouth to prevent the liquidized food from escaping.

When his body started to work again, his mind follows along. And the only thought that's swimming through his mind right now as we speak; get the heck out of there!

Ash took a few steps back, his hands still over his mouth to prevent his breakfast from leaving. M-Maybe he could-

He stops when he felt his left foot made a sickening squish. In an instant, his mind shuts down as his whole body stood still in a frozen state of horror. The thing he stepped on quickly covers his bottom foot in a thick, wet, sticky substance. The more he feels his foot keeps putting pressure on it, the more he felt the substance staining his foot as it keeps being squirted out like a sponge.

If it were only a sponge that he stepped on.

Ash couldn't move, his whole body has shut down due to the traumatizing sight he's seeing from the pantry. It didn't help that he actually stepped on a piece of that corpse, so now he really couldn't get his mind back to work. The nauseating feeling he felt before has been instantly dispersing so he felt his hands remove themselves from his mouth and are now trembling by his sides.

Why, oh why didn't he bring any slippers?!

The room then turns cold. Not the same cold he felt when he and the others first arrived at this place. No, this cold felt different. The type that feels that it wants to intentionally take away all the warmth. Funny, though, the cold seems to be coming from behind him.

 _"Do you know what It did?"_

Ash's breath hitches to its highest point. That's a girl's voice, but it's not Serena and Bonnie. No, it had more of a shrill and echo-effect to it. Something that's far from Serena's soft-spoken and Bonnie's sassy voices.

 _"Do you know what It did?"_ The voice asked again, this time more forcefully. It's like she wants an answer, so, despite his quivering mind, Ash nod as fast as he could. He couldn't see the person, but something tells him he didn't want to find out.

 _"We were walking... We needed shelter..."_ The voice starts, probably telling a story. A story that Ash didn't want to be a part of, but his body couldn't find the will to move. It was too traumatized to move. So he stood there, listening to the voice's story. _"We thought we could stay here for a while... T-Then, **It**_ _, came..."_ Ash felt his body flinch when the voice almost turned demonic. _"I-It came, and It took him... I-It took him, t-then maimed me... I-It... H-he... T-They maimed m-me. T-Took away the things that belong t-to me. T-Then, when they were done, I-It killed him..."_

Finally, Ash felt his body relaxed, making him gasp in relief. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath so he took all the gulps of air he could take. Despite his mind telling him to run and get him and his friends out of here, his curiosity won over his instincts. He slowly turns by his feet, trying to ignore the substance that's still squishing underneath his feet while keeping his eyes up. He could barely handle seeing most of that corpse anyway.

When he manage to make a perfect 180-degree turn, Ash almost screams but it died in his throat. No way...

Right behind him is a woman, probably a little older than him due to her height, but he could hardly make it out since she's standing in a hunched stance. She has long, reddish-brown hair that's covering the entire area of her face so he couldn't make out her features, but he could definitely tell her skin had a grayish hue due to the old time-y, worn-out, orange dress she's wearing, which is exposing her neck. Layers of her dress and hair coated in what he hopes it won't be blood, but the dark red shade says otherwise.

What is really scaring him are the bloody stumps that are in the place where her arms are supposed to be. Apparently, this woman had her entire arms cut off, leaving behind gashes of blood dripping from the stumps that once used to be her arms. The very sight of seeing her blood dripping so flowy like a stream made Ash's stomach churn.

Who would do something like this to her?

 _"I-It killed him..."_ She continues, and if Ash weren't seeing her ghastly appearance right now, he wouldn't think that she was human due to her voice. _"T-Then It took what's mine... T-They belong to me... B-But It used them, f-for I-Itself..."_ Finally, the woman lifted her head up in a more relaxed stance, right where he can see her bloodshot eyes from underneath her hair, blooding dripping down like tears from each socket.

Ash felt his heart drop when those blood-stained eyes start to glare at him, forcing their way into his very soul. Why is she looking at him like that?

 _"N-Now, t-there's one thing left..."_ Suddenly the woman's hair begins to sway from an invisible wind force, giving her that creepy apparition feeling. It didn't help that each time she spoke, her words became louder and making them bounce off the walls, hurting his ears. _"T-The one thing that I-It wants... I-It's here, in this place... W-With that, I-It will win..."_ Her hair begins to sway faster. _"I-I... I WON'T LET IT WIN!"_

She then came charging towards him at the speed of a torpedo.

If it weren't for his instincts kicking back in, Ash probably would have been facing some woman's wrath. He immediately dives to the side, landing on the dusty ground with a small thud. He quickly looks behind him to see the apparition of the woman fly straight into the pantry. Right where that corpse is...

Shaking his head to get rid of that horrible image, Ash sprung up to his feet and made a beeline straight towards the door. With ever strength he could muster, he slams the pantry door shut and made sure it's bolted that way. He then grabs a nearby chair and stuck right under the handle. Just as he did that, the door gave a violent jerk, making him back away a few steps. Thankfully, he didn't step on _that_ , but he probably didn't seem to notice since he's so focused on the pounding door in front of him.

Finally, his mind took over again, making him turn tail and run as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't care if his left foot kept on slipping from the red substance on it, or the fact he barges through the kitchen door and is now running through the dark halls, not even noticed that the door was previously locked before. No, the only thing that he could think about is getting as far away from the kitchen as possible.

"SERENA! PIKACHU CLEMONT!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs, not caring if they were burning from the marathon-like run he's doing. But he still didn't care. He has to get away from that place.

Ash?!

"Pika-Pi!"

Hearing the familiar voices of his friends fills him with instant relief. His friends are here, they can get out of here together!

He could see Serena, Bonnie, and Pikachu running out from the darkness straight towards him. Each of their faces is etched with concern as they make their way over to him. He couldn't see where Clemont is, though, but his terrified mind didn't care at the moment.

"Ash, what happened?" Serena asks when they reached him. "We heard you screaming from the halls, we thought something bad had happened!" Ash didn't give her straight answer, he just quickly hid behind her, gripping her shoulders tightly as he stares at the dark hallway that leads to the Kitchen of Horrors with frightening eyes.

The two girls and Pokemon all stare at their raven-haired in confusion. What happened during the time he was alone that made him so terrified? Before they could ask Ash any more questions, a familiar lemon-haired genius has made his appearance.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Everyone currently present yelp when Clemont came rushing at them in a middle of a scream, a lug nut wrench in hand with a position that he's ready to hit someone with it. "WHERE'S THE MURDER?!"

Realizing that it's one of Clemont's weird moments, they immediately relaxed. Well, Ash didn't relax, he still kept his tight grip on Serena while continuing to stare down the hall with wide eyes.

"Did you really carried that around just so something happens and you can use it?" Bonnie asked with a bored face, pointing her small finger at the wrench.

Clemont lowers the wrench to give it a quick glance before looking at his little sister. "You can't expect me to not defend myself when we're in a place like the Lewis Manor, Bonnie!"

"Big brother, for the last time, those last murders happened-"

"Guys!" The two siblings stop their squabbling to see Serena trying to comfort a shaken Ash. "Can't this wait until later? Something's wrong with Ash!"

Clemont and Bonnie immediately turn their attention to Ash, who is making whimpering sounds as he stares at the hall that leads to the kitchen. They were caught-off-guard at how terrified Ash looked, he's not usually scared, and especially not like this!

"Ash, what happened?" Clemont asked his friend, who didn't turn his gaze away. "You look like you saw a ghost!"

"S-Someone was t-there," Ash begins, his stuttering messing him up a few of his words. "I-I w-went t-to the k-kitchen, t-then the door l-locked a-and the p-pantry-" For some reason, Ash stopped in mid-sentence, as if continuing only hurts. He had let go of Serena to grip his hair tightly while he made noises in the back of this throat in the form of small whimpers. Okay, now they know something is wrong. Otherwise, Ash wouldn't be acting the way he is.

Serena places her hands on his shoulder and gives him a little shake. "Ash, look at me!" He did, and Serena became caught off-guard at how terrified he look. But she shook her head and continue with her question. "What happened in the pantry?"

His eyes became side-glanced like his mind is replaying the horrific imagine he saw inside the pantry room. Which it probably was since Ash shivered afterward. He then spoke softly, "I-I s-saw a b-body in there..."

It only took a few seconds for the gravity of his words to sink in.

Clemont gulps as the wrench shake in his grip. "A-A body...?"

"You mean like," Bonnie slid a finger across her throat.

Ash nods, barely even looking at anything. "T-The door was locked, s-so I c-couldn't get o-out. T-Then I-I heard s-something from the p-pantry, a-and w-when I o-opened it... T-The body was t-there... All c-cut u-up l-like s-somebody used a k-knife on h-him..." Realizing the graphic image Ash must have seen, Clemont quickly covers Bonnie's ears so she didn't have to listen to that part. "T-Then a-a woman came... S-She w-was all b-bloody a-and n-no a-arms... S-She s-started t-to t-talk about s-some w-weird s-stuff, t-then she c-came at m-me a-and..."

Thoughts and images of the corpse and the woman came swimming through his mind like a movie screen, replaying the horrific experience in his mind over and over again the more he talked about it. Finally, it became too much for him that he let out a sob and put his hands over his eyes. "NO MORE! I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! DON'T MAKE ME!"

His outburst startled them all. It's obviously that whatever happened in the kitchen traumatized him, to the point he can't talk even about it. A part of them wanted to march in that kitchen and give that so-called woman a piece of their own mind for mortifying their best friend like that. Still, there's the matter of the corpse...

"Bonnie, stay here with Ash, me and Serena are gonna go look in the kitchen and see who's in there..." Clemont eventually says, adjusting the wrench in his grip.

The young girl looks up at her brother in confusion. "What? But why do I have to be the to stay behind?" The disappointment was clearly evident, but Clemont still stuck with his decision.

"Bonnie, you know we can't leave Ash alone. Not when he's like this." He gestured to the whimpering Ash, who hasn't removed his hands yet. "You can keep him company while Serena and I go check out the kitchen." He didn't want to reveal the real reason why Bonnie had to stay behind since she would keep protesting to join them. This is the only way he can make sure his sister doesn't get traumatized like Ash.

Bonnie looks down, clearly upset that she's going to be left behind. She nods her head, nonetheless. Even with her adventurous mindset, she wasn't selfish that she would leave a friend behind if their current state of mind isn't right. "Alright, I'll stay..."

Clemont gives his sister smile for understanding. He then looks back at Serena with a nervous look in his blue-eyes. "W-Well, off we go to find a possible lunatic in the kitchen..." Serena nods her head with a small whimper before they made their way down the hall, leaving the little girl and Electric Mouse alone with quivering ten-year-old, who is rubbing his arms quite rapidly. Like he's just gone out in the blizzard that's outside and came back a few minutes later.

Bonnie frowns at the sight of him like this, she's not used to her energetic partner-in-crime being so broken. Obviously, something happened and she's not allowed to see it, but she still couldn't help but feel envious for Ash getting the chance to see something that she can't. "Gee, you don't have to overreact, Ash, I'm sure seeing a dead body isn't _that_ bad."

 _If you saw someone chopped in half you would understand how bad it was if your head isn't always in the dang clouds!_ A voice in the back of his mind wanted to shout at Bonnie for her blunt prattle, but he bit his lip to hold it back. He couldn't say something like to Bonnie! She doesn't know any better! And where the heck did that thought even come from?!

For the last few minutes, Ash kept on whimpering as the thoughts of that corpse and the armless woman continue to plague his mind. Bonnie and Pikachu did their best to comfort him by rubbing his arm or leg, but it hardly did anything. They could only watch as the raven-haired boy continue to sob from the horror he just saw.

Finally, Clemont and Serena came back from the darkness within the hall. However, they didn't have the same horrified looks that they all saw in Ash when he came from the kitchen. No, instead, they had this distant gaze in their eyes. Their minds trying to comprehend on Ash's words and what they just saw.

Bonnie looks up when she heard their footsteps came closer to them. She leaves Ash's side for a moment to run up to her brother and her best friend eagerly. "So how did it go with the crazy lady? Did you get to see the dead body?"

Clemont looks at his sister with a solemn expression. "We would have said 'yes' if there was even a dead body or crazy lady, to begin with."

Hearing those words manage to snap Ash out of his distressed state of mind to look at his two friends in astonishment. "W-Wha..."

The lemon-haired genius looks over his little sister's head to give the raven-haired boy a sympathetic expression. "We're sorry Ash, we know you wouldn't act like without a reason. But, Serena and I didn't see a body or a woman inside the pantry. The entire area is free from any blood, so we really couldn't find any evidence of a corpse or the bloody, armless woman you claim to have seen."

Hearing all that made Ash stumble with his words. How could have they _not_ seen all of that? That corpse was spraying blood everywhere, how could they have not noticed the blood covered jars when the blood hits them? Or better yet, what about that crazy armless lady? She's probably angry at him for locking her up in the pantry where her, supposedly, companion's corpse is. So, clearly, there are suppose to be bumps on the door from all the force she used to possibly break it down. But the fact that his friends are saying that they didn't see any evidence...

"B-But..."

Serena takes a step forward and gently places her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe, you're imagination is reacting to what we told you about the history of this place. Not to mention we are isolated from everybody, you're probably suffering from the first stages of cabin fever."

A part of Ash's mind, the one that wanted to yell at Bonnie a few moments ago, wanted to yell at Serena for thinking that he's going crazy. Why on earth would he imagine something as horrific as that?! But, the more he thought about it, it would make sense. He did felt bored while he was inside this Manor and now he could feel his heart-racing. Maybe this is his brain using its _very_ cruel idea of keeping him entertained. Besides, there is no way his friends would lie to him like this.

He slowly nods his head, despite his mind's protest. "Y-Yeah... M-Maybe..."

Clemont then steps forward puts his hand on Ash's other shoulder. "We should probably get you to bed. You've had enough excitement for tonight, anyway." Not even bothering to protest against them, Ash let his friends lead him away from the kitchen. Behind him, he could hear Bonnie mumbling, "I didn't even get to see a dead body..."

As they continue to walk down the dark corridor, a thought suddenly strikes in Ash's mind. Didn't he step on a piece of that corpse? He could remember the sticky substance staining his foot, giving him the coldest shivers he ever felt in his entire life. Despite his gruesome thoughts, the stain is still there, right? Maybe if he could show it to his friends then they will believe him and they can get the heck out of here.

He looks down at his left foot, expecting it to be covered in that red liquid...

Only to find not a single trace of blood on it.

* * *

It narrows its golden orbs at the scene in the kitchen. One of the very cons of doing the things It does is the spirits of the ones who refused to fade away. Even after all these years, their hatred keeps growing and growing as the seasons keep changing, making it difficult for bringing more outsiders in here. Then again, the more outsiders It brings, the more angry spirits are created. While that is very difficult to manage, It's willing to pay that price. Especially when It is so close.

After watching the Armless One attack the young boy, It quickly stepped in the moment the boy ran out and made the woman and her beloved's corpse vanish. Out of all the angry spirits inside this house, she's the one that is most unstable if she had no problem scaring a ten-year-old like that. Now It had to deal with the consequences of the Armless One. The boy is now obviously frightened by this place, and it won't be long before he convinces the others to get out of this place. Not yet, not until It decides what to do with them.

Listening to the Armless One's words, It became confused. The last thing It needed? Here? Inside the Manor? What did she mean by that? Was she talking about the boy? No, he didn't have the thing It needed. But It is willing to admit that he did look like- No! Don't bring it up! It would only bring up the memory of **her**.

It watches the young boy reunite with his three human friends and his Pokémon and how he tries to explain to them what he saw in the kitchen. Looking at three children, It can obviously tell that the blonde boy is not what It's looking. It turns Its attention to girls and... Wait... That girl...

She's the one that It needs. She's the last piece.

...Maybe It should let the Violent Spirits play with that boy the more he stays in this house. After all, It might need him.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! As you can see, I have posted Chapter 6 of _The Thing_ and I'm still alive! Though, I think I made someone cry. I'm not gonna tell you what happened in Chapter 6, by the way! That'll be a complete spoiler to all of you and it'll ruin the angst feeling to the whole story. However, something tells me all you Ash fans are probably gonna kill me once you read the chapter below.**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: As I've said in PM, interesting theory. Too bad I can't say if you're right or wrong. Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to use them in future chapters!**

 **thor94: I can't say it. Sorry. :)**

 **Crestilia: Um, technically the only reason why Ash went into the kitchen and pantry is because he was hungry. So it wouldn't make a difference if he used Talonflame to warm himself. He would still get hungry. Oh, if you think Ash is scary now, wait until you see the future chapters ;) Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Nemo: Wait, I'm confused. If my story is terrible, why would you go through the trouble to make a comment? I mean, if you don't like it, the search button is right there on your top right. Not to mention the back button is on you top left. But hey, it's your life. Don't let an author who you don't even know tell you what to do.**

* * *

The morning came by longer than the kids anticipated but were glad there was a little coming out of the stained windows above them in the living room. However, they can still hear and see from the windows that the blizzard is still as strong as ever and won't be slowing down anytime soon. Thus forcing them to spend more of their time in this creepy old place. While a couple of the young Kalosians are internally freaked out that they have to continue to dwell in the Manor where many murders took place, their anxious didn't even match a certain Kantonese boy.

Ash didn't even bother to move from his spot in the bed when he woke up. Last night's events exhausted him to the point he didn't want to get up when Serena told him breakfast was ready. Though she frowned at his fatigued response, she let him be. Although he hates worrying his friends, Ash is just glad that Serena understands he needs some time alone.

So here he is, lying down on his side with his legs slightly curled up to his chest. His eyes glazed over as his mind continues to replay the horrors he saw last night. The chopped-up corpse with spilled intestines everywhere, the bloody armless woman who tried to attacked him, and how his friends thought he's beginning to suffer from cabin fever.

Despite the reassurance of he gave his friends, Ash knew for a fact that he wasn't suffering from stir craziness. No matter how bored he gets, his brain would never let him imagine something like _that_ to prevent boredom from taking over his mind. Something did happen and it disappeared before his friends could see it. Then again, there wasn't any blood on his foot when he stepped on a piece of that corpse... Maybe he is going crazy-

He shook his head. Snap out of it, Ketchum! You know what you saw last night, something weird is going on around here. And he's very intent to find out what it is.

Ash slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position, pausing for a second to breathe. Just thinking about last night made him short of breath. After that, he moves the blanket off him, slips into his shoes - there was no way he was going to go out there without any footwear after last night - and makes his way over to the door.

Pikachu had left him a few minutes ago to go to the living room downstairs after Serena came into his room for breakfast, it was quite reluctant to do so, though. However, Ash felt a little glad that his partner didn't have to see him exploring the Manor since it also thinks he's acting a little stir crazy.

Watching his friends from the staircase, Ash still couldn't help but feel a little hurt about their assumptions last night. That was one of the only moments where he became completely vulnerable, and they mistook it for him turning a little stir crazy. Granted, they didn't see the maimed corpse or the creepy lady in the kitchen, which he can understand why. But still... Why didn't they...?

He shook his head again. He's supposed to be looking for clues to what's going on, not to dwell on his sense of doubt in his friends. He began to walk down the hall on his left, one of the many parts of this Manor that he didn't get see. The darkness of the hall seemly welcoming him as he disappears into it.

* * *

Serena brushes Braxien's tail with a small forming her lips, watching her Pokémon looking so relaxed on the sofa. Next to her is Clemont tinkering with some of his unfinished inventions, his blue eyes set on the tools in his hand. Meanwhile, Bonnie, with the addition of Dedenne and Squishy, is hanging around the fireplace. With a fire iron in hand, she begins to examine the extinguished firewood. Pikachu had left the living room a few seconds to ago, possibly going to check on Ash.

Stopping momentarily from brushing her Pokémon, Serena looks at the staircase with a small frown on her. "I wonder how's Ash doing... He didn't come down for breakfast, and he's always hungry."

Clemont temporally stops his tinkering to look at the honey-blonde with soft eyes. "Well, he's probably mentally exhausted. And from the way Ash reacted to what his mind made him imagine, it's must have been really bad. I think what he really needs right now is to rest."

Seeing the helpless look on Serena's face, Clemont reaches his hand over and pats her shoulder with a gentle touch. "Hey, don't worry about him. Cabin Fever can happen to anyone, I'm sure Ash can make it through it. He just needs a little rest to get his mind back together. I'll bet he'll be back to his normal self by dinner time."

This actually brings the smile back to Serena. He's right, why is she so worried? This is Ash, for Pete's sake! He's able to handle a blast of a flamethrower to his face and still stand up to help with her Pokévision videos. She should stop fussing over him, Ash will be fine!

"Bet you'll like that, huh Serena?" Of course, there's always that little blonde menace to make things embarrassing. Serena could feel her face turning into a bright tomato while Bonnie laughs from the fireplace.

That clever little girl...

Thankfully, Clemont came to the rescue. "Bonnie! I thought I told you to leave Serena alone on this!"

Wait, what?!

"Come on, Clemont!" Bonnie protests, looking at her older brother over her shoulder as she continues to poke through the ashes and firewood. "Can I really help that Serena's too much of scaredy cat to confess to Ash?"

"It's not even our business, anyway! If Serena wants to confess to Ash, then it'll be on her own terms!"

"Which that would probably take fifty years..."

Serena had her head darting back and forth between the siblings before she finally explodes. "Wait, you mean you two knew this whole time?!"

Clemont gives her a sheepish smile. "To be honest, I didn't know until last week when Bonnie pointed it out."

"You make it obvious, anyway..." Bonnie deadpan, before returning back to her task.

Serena could feel her face heating up in embarrassment. All of her friends knew, but the boy she loves doesn't?! How can that be any more humiliating than it already is? Desperate to change the topic, Serena regards Bonnie's sudden interest in the hearth. 'Uh, Bonnie? What are you doing with that fireplace?"

"Looking for clues! Duh!" Bonnie said like it was obvious, not noticing Serena's change of the subject is making her forget about the matter of Serena's feelings.

Clemont looks at her in suspicion, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "Uh... Looking for clues for _what_ , exactly?"

"To the murders of Lewis Manor! I though that would be pretty obvious..." Hearing this made the two older kids sigh in exhaustion. This again?

"Bonnie, for the last time," Clemont begins, taking off his glasses to rub his tired eyes. "No one figured out who the murderer was for about a hundred and fifty years. If the police couldn't find anything, what makes you think that you could-?"

"Found something!" The two kids perked up. Did she really-? They watch as Bonnie picks something up and hurries over to them with a triumph smile on her face, Dedenne, and Squishy following behind. Bonnie launches herself in between the two before showing them the thing she found.

Apparently, it's an ancient book. They thought that because of the worn-out, brown covered cover and the yellowing pages underneath it. One possible tweak could rip most of the pages. However, Bonnie fail to realize this as she opens the book and flips through the pages at the speed of light.

"Found this underneath a brick in that pile of ashes," Bonnie begins to explain her discovery, the two humans peering in closely to take in some of the pages. "I thought it was pretty weird that something like this would be hidden like that, so I picked it up! And now I'm glad I did, take a look at this!" She stops at a page and shoves it into her brother's face.

Clemont flinches when the book suddenly shows up into his face like that, but he takes the book, nonetheless. His blue eyes scanning through the page, but then a small gasp escapes his lips once he was finished.

"What is it, Clemont?" Serena asked, noticing the jaw-dropped expression on the genius's face.

Clemont looks up at her, his shocked expression still there. "This book contains all the victims of Lewis Manor!" She didn't have time to react when Clemont already shoves the book into her hand and now she found herself reading the page.

 ** _Victims of the Lewis Manor Massacre  
_** _In memory of those who died during the Night of the Long Knives at the Lewis Manor that lasted for 1901 to 1951. They will be deeply missed._

The rest of that page showed pictures and names of the many victims inside the Lewis Manor. Some that she instantly recognized; _Maya Jane Lewis_ , _Thomas James Lewis_ , _James Lewis_ , and _Jane Lewis_. The others she had no recognition of but knew instantly that they are also the victims. All of them are from a variety of time periods, none of them looked the same, minus those who had the same last names so she assumes that they were related in some way. However, she notices one thing that perplexes her.

Some of these pictures are circled in a red marker, and they're all female.

 _Melanie Smith_

 _Seiko Nakashima_

 _Amanda Stone_

 _Fleur Blanc_

 _Sachiko Kishinuma_

"I-I... I never knew so many people died here!" Serena manages out, her finger trembling at the pictures of the many people that lost their lives by one simple murderer. While she has heard about the murders, she never realized _how_ many people died in this place. Why would someone do this?!

"And look here!" Bonnie crawls over and puts her finger on one of the circled pictures. "Someone circled these victims, and it was just recently too!"

Hearing this made Clemont's glasses tilt awkwardly. He suddenly stampers, "W-Wait... I-If someone c-circled those pictures recently, t-then doesn't that mean s-someone else is inside this Manor with us?"

The girls gave each other looks. Before they could give him their best answers...

 _"PIKKKKKAAAAAA-PPPPPPIIIII!"_

All those who are currently at the living room jump when they heard that scream. They instantly recognize it to be Pikachu's since they're obviously no one else who can scream like that. However, their worries only increase once they realize what Pikachu just screamed about. Pika-Pi. Pikachu's own abbreviation for Ash's name. If Pikachu is screaming about Ash, then that means...

"Braxien, return!" Serena takes out her Pokéball and recalls her starter Pokémon, then she, the Lumiose Siblings, and the two small Pokémon instantly hurried over to the staircase. Apparently, it didn't take long for them to see Pikachu about to run down the stairs to meet them but stops when he sees them.

It's safe to say that they've never seen Pikachu like this before; it has this wide, frantic look in its eyes like the whole world is about to end. Just when they reach its line of, already it begins to panicky wave its arms around in the form of a wild maniac in demented mode. Whatever Pikachu has seen has caused his fur turn a sickly pale yellow, something that's only supposed to happen when a Pikachu is sick. Not to mention the fact Pikachu is currently frantically yelling at them is only making their worry meter ready to burst.

"What is it, Pikachu? Did something happened to Ash?" Clemont decided to ask the Electric Mouse. But instead of giving him a straight answer, the Pokémon just suddenly begins to speed down the left hall, where Clemont and Bonnie's bedrooms are. Though confused by the Mouse's sudden departure, the children follow behind, nonetheless. They could only wonder what happened to Ash that made Pikachu scream like that and hope that their raven-haired friend is going to be alright.

* * *

Despite Pikachu's quick speed, it took them a while to reach the destination it wants them to go. The destination is at the end of the hall, where there is only one, black door that appears connected to the wall. Since all the doors inside the halls are horizontal, they were caught off-guard slightly by the door in front of them. However, their attention is immediately turned back to Pikachu, who is still waving his arms frantically and shouting in its Pikachu Language.

"Is Ash behind this door?" Bonnie asked, and Pikachu nods its head the fastest they've ever seen it do. What did Pikachu see that made him so scared?

Serena takes a bold step and grasps the door handle. "Ash, what's going?" She calls out loudly in hopes her crush could hear her from the other side while she pulls the door open. "Pikachu's been acting crazy. It's like it thinks you're-!"

When she opened the door, Serena never thought she would find Ash's limp body hanging a few inches off the ground by a rope around his neck inside the closet, from what she could tell by the rack of clothes behind him. But a rack of clothes is the least of her worries right now.

It's funny when you see the person you love with a noose wrap around his neck in a possible tight grip. The entire world stops all around you and you could only focus on the body hanging right in front of you. For Serena, her whole body stopped the moment she notices the noose rope.

If you were to ask Serena if this Ash's body, she would have denied it with a full heart. No way in the world that a person like Ash would actually committed something like this. The boy in front of her didn't even look at him. Never before she has seen Ash so pale to the point his skin has lost all of its entire hues, replacing his once warm mocha skin tone is a horrible slate gray that didn't even belong. Underneath his hair, which is covering his probably dead eyes, are tear stains trailing down from what she could believe was the struggle of his body trying to get the rope off? At this point, she didn't know anymore. But seeing the trails of saliva trailing down his blue lips only confirms that what she's seeing right now is true.

But she still couldn't help but deny it.

While Serena stood there in frozen horror, Clemont did the most vitalize action out of them all. Catching the sight of Ash's slack body dangling there, Clemont let out of the most deafening scream his puberty squeak voice could manage. He jumps away from the closet and fell down on his behind when he felt the wall. His legs were too weak to even bring himself back up as his eyes couldn't strain away from the body in the closet.

Only Bonnie's expression didn't seem too horrified. In fact, her entire face just shows a look of confusion. Her little mind didn't understand physics very well, so she didn't know what would happen if a person had a rope tied around their neck and have no support at the bottom of their feet. To her, Ash is just hanging there, still able to breathe, but looking like he's asleep. She looks at her brother with a weirded out expression. "Gee, Clemont, never knew Ash dangling from a rope and sleeping at the same time could freak you out..."

It's Bonnie's complete cluelessness to the situation helped Serena cut through her veto. The boy dangling in front of her isn't just some stranger who couldn't handle his life anymore and decided to end it all in hopes that no one could find him. No, this is not a stranger. This is Ash.

And he's hanging there with a noose around his neck, not showing any sign of life.

At the moment, her entire world collapsed on her.

"A-A... A-Ash..." The words escape her lips before she even realizes what it. They came out as such a soft, trembling whisper that she almost didn't acknowledge it.

Then her hands flew to her hair, gripping the honey locks in the tightest that she could form so that it hurt.

She screams.

No matter how many times Bonnie keeps asking her "What's wrong", it didn't stop the never-ending tear that's ripping through her heart as we speak. Her voice didn't even crack when her screams kept going on. They seem to be reflecting on what her heart his feeling, and they sure are good at reflecting on them.

 _"AAAAAASSSHHH! WHY?! WWWHHHHHYYYY?!"_ Is what she kept screaming over and over again. No matter what's going to happen next, nothing will let her mind stray away from the corpse of her loved one.

..Except maybe said "corpse's" hands suddenly flying up to the rope on his neck and the sounds of retching escaping from his mouth full of spit.

Seeing their friend showing life again immediately caught all of their attention. The two siblings made their way right next to Serena, who let go of her hair and is now seeing the struggling body of Ash gripping the rope with his fingers tightly.

"A-Ash...?" She whispers, unsure if what she's seeing is actually true. First, she sees his corpse dangling in front of her and she tries to deny it, then she accepts it and goes into a mental breakdown, and now she sees the body of Ash gagging in front of her while he desperately trying to get the rope off him.

"He's still alive!" Clemont hollers the words that brought hope back into her heart. Ash is still alive. They can still save him!

"Wait, you mean he's dying?!" Bonnie's surprised response made the older children jump. They forgot that Bonnie is too young to understand being stringed up, she shouldn't be looking at this!

"H...H-He...H-H-He..."

Hearing the sounds of their friend trying to communicate to with them forced them to forget about Bonnie's obviousness to physics and turn their attention back to their friend. His eyes were now visible for them to see underneath his raven bangs, and they can see his amber eyes shrunken down and have turned completely bloodshot from the strain to his neck. Rows of spit came pouring out of his mouth while his throat kept making guttural sounds, possibly trying to speak but can't due to the lack of air in his lungs.

Finally, they heard the full message, despite the mispronunciations.

"H-He...lp...m-me...H-Help...m...Hel...ee..."

At that moment, they went hysterical. Just seeing the friend begging like this in the situation he's currently in has made them reach the end of their limits.

"Ash, hang on!" Serena cries, being the first to rush into the closet and wrap her arms around the boy's body.

Only to accidently pull Ash down, forcing him to make a croaking yelp when the rope suddenly went tighter on his neck.

She admittedly dropped her arms when she realized what she's done. "Sorry!" Despite knowing he couldn't answer her, she still couldn't help but apologize. And she was right, the only response that he made are continuous gagging sounds. He even began to thrash around, kicking his feet with all the strength he could muster while his fingers try to loosen the rope.

Clemont then hurries into the closet, a scared Bonnie following not so far behind. "We need to get that rope off him!" He shouts over the thrashing sounds coming from his best friend, he couldn't even bare to look at his suffocating body.

Serena nods. "Right!" She and Clemont immediately hurry over to their friend's thrashing figure, their hands reaching for the rope. Luckily, Ash wasn't that high off the ground, just enough for him to suffocate from the rope, so the two are able to reach the rope from within their arms' lengths. However, just when they firmly grasp the old thing, Ash makes the most painful noise when the rope once again tightens around his neck.

They quickly lower their hands with horrified faces. "No matter what we do, the rope keeps digging into his neck!" Serena screams, her hands once again flying to her short hair to tug at them. "W-What are we going to do?!"

Bonnie takes a step forward. "He's choking because he's not standing on anything, right? So, why don't we just find something for him to stand on?!"

"Even if we do that, we don't know how long Ash has been dangling there!" Clemont, unintentionally, shouts at her. "If we go look for something now, it might be too late!"

"Then why don't we just lift him up?!"

Hearing this made Serena remove her hands from her head, realization dawning in her eyes. "Ah! We can lift him up! Clemont, you lift him up so I can untie the rope!"

"Serena, you know I can't even lift weights! What makes you think I can lift Ash?!" He snaps at her, but she couldn't blame him. Seeing their friend on the brink of death is stressing them out. They're not professionals so they didn't know how to handle situations like this. It didn't help that they couldn't figure out why Ash would even do something like this.

Thankfully, it was Bonnie who shook them all out of their hassle. "I'll help you pick him up, Clemont!"

In spite of their doubt that a girl Bonnie's size could lift someone Ash's height, it was their only option left to save him. So, the Lumiose siblings immediately went to work; Clemont wraps his arms around the boy's waist while Bonnie took the legs. Together, they hoist him up. Regardless of Bonnie's size, she affords an enormous help to Clemont, who would've collapsed underneath the Kantonese boy's weight without her help.

Thanks to the sudden leverage, it gave the rope enough slack for Ash to breath. Once that closing feeling in his throat finally left, Ash took huge large amounts of air. His lungs greedily taking all the oxygen he could take like he would lose them all again in a flash.

Seeing that their leverage is working and Ash is getting air back into his lungs, Serena immediately set herself to work. She reaches over to the rope and begins to untie it. Thankfully, Ash didn't yelp or gag like last time when she and Clemont touched the rope the last time, so that means it's loose enough for her to touch it without suffocating Ash further.

This went on for minutes. The only sounds that could be heard in these empty halls are Ash's heavy gasping to get the air he lost back into his lungs and the straining sounds coming from Clemont and Bonnie since their arms seem ready to give out. However, they still kept strong since they knew that their friend's life is depending on them.

But that didn't mean their arms are in the same mindset as them.

Just when they thought their arms were about to give out, they heard the words that brought instant relief to them; "I got it!"

And like that, Ash's body tilted forward. He was free from the rope.

Quickly helping the two siblings, Serena places her own arms around the boy's waist, she and the other two gentle setting the boy down the ground so he could lay on his side. They remove their arms from him as they watch Ash coughing and wheezing. His two, bloody hands - he probably cut his hands from the old fibers inside the rope - gripping his scarred neck while he does everything he could to keep his throat from closing again.

Seeing this, Serena softly pats his back to give him some comfort. "It's okay, Ash! Just breath!"

After a few seconds, his breaths finally slowed down. He then relaxes against the floor, his face completely at eased now.

They all sign in relief. He's going to be alright.

Suddenly, Serena's face shone in an unspeakable rage. "Ash, WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF?!" She grips his shoulders and shook him around. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO US WITH YOU GONE?! DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT, HUH?!"

Instead of seeing him snapping his head up in rebound like they would suspect him too after going through all of that and how he's so reactive to loud noises, he just lays his head back due to the lack of support to his head. They could only hear the soft sounds of him breathing, indicating that he passed out after that whole thing.

Completely out of breath, Clemont gently pats her shoulder. "I think we should let him rest," he tells her. "He's been through enough, anyway.."

Regardless of her need to want answers, Serena nods her head. She would imagine all the strain Ash must have been going through from that whole thing. But that still didn't soothe that never-ending question that's flowing through her mind.

"...Why would he even do this?"

Hearing that made Clemont freeze. Bonnie didn't have much of a reaction since she didn't understand the idea of suicide, she just stares at Ash with a concerned look. The very thought of Ash doing something like this is complete blasphemy. Ash, the one who's always smiling and never giving up, somehow deciding to end his own life just like that... His mind couldn't process it. It doesn't take science to know that Ash's mental health, no matter how terrified it must have been from his cabin fever episode, would never let him go this far.

But after seeing all of that...

He ran his hand over his face. They're all tired; they've just gone through a terrible blizzard to find shelter, Ash seemly had a stir crazy period last night, and they see him what looked like to be him hanging himself. Everything is out of control and they have no idea what to do but at least the biggest thing they should worry about for now is their raven-haired friend.

Clemont couldn't help but look at the noose hanging from the clothes racks like it's almost taunting him on how he almost lost his best friend. The very thought made him shudder. He looks back down at Ash with-

Wait a minute...

While he may not have studied a lot of the other Regions' cultures, there is one thing Clemont knows about the Kanto region. If someone were to end their own life, they would take their shoes off before self-slaughtering themselves. Despite being disturbed that he had to learn about something like that, he has never thought that the very information would be extremely helpful to this day.

Looking at him now, Clemont knew at that very moment, Ash wasn't going to commit suicide...

...Because his shoes are still on...

* * *

 ***Straps on construction helmet***

 **I can already hear you Ash fans charging at me. I'm not gonna go back into my bomb shelter because Chapter 6 isn't out yet.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: So, back with another chapter. You know, I just realized I made the "after the storm" chapters for Chapter 3 and Chapter 6. Makes me wonder how people are gonna react to all the future and suspense stuff I'm planning. Also, sorry for uploading a little late. This is what happens when School takes up most of your time. CURSE YOU, SCHOOL!**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: Wahoo!**

 **Juster of Rivia: You have no idea how much it makes me excited to hear that. Thank you, and I listened to that theme with one of the chapter. You were right, it did bring an extra chill to my spine, and I already know what happens! Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Holy Cow: Thank you! I hope you enjoy what's in store for the future! P.S. That joke wasn't funny...**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: *Cringes* Sorry, Steel...**

 **Enjoy the chapter everyone!**

* * *

Darkness is not a fun place. Darkness is the place where you don't know where you're going. Where you can't find your way out of this never-ending abyss. He could remember all the times he's been in total darkness like this, and he didn't enjoy them. Not on bit. He wants to get out. He wants to be free from this darkness.

If only he could open his eyes right now.

"I think he's waking up!" A voice said.

"Is he?!" Said another voice, sounding frightened, concerned, and angry at the same time. Why is it angry?

"Serena, remember, we leave him alone on that!" The third voice spoke up in a slight lecture tone.

Serena...?

Serena!

At that, Ash opens his eyes.

Everything started out completely white at first, probably because he's just woken up. Gradually, colors began to appear, but everything is still blurry. Something told him to close his eyes again to clear his head, but in fear of being trapped inside that darkness again, he kept them open. Thankfully, the colors started to clear up and now he could make out his surroundings.

It took him a few seconds to realize he's back inside his room at the Lewis Manor, he could tell the rotting ceiling and faded blue wallpaper in the background. Right now, the faces of Pikachu, Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, Dedenne, and Squishy are currently hovering over him. Seeing that his dull, amber eyes are focusing on them, their faces instantly shone with relief.

Clemont was the first to speak. "You okay?"

Ash then realizes how exhausted his body is; his arms and legs are aching in ways he never thought they could, he didn't even have the willpower to move into a sitting position. All his body wanted to do right now is to lay against this soft mattress and disappear for a while. Suddenly, his mind registers the throbbing pain coming from his neck, almost to the point he's having a little trouble breathing.

Remembering that one of his friends just asked him a question, Ash gives him a slow nod. "Y-Yeah..." His voice came out in a croak, making him lift his aching hand to touch his throat on instinct. A wave of confusion wash over him when he didn't felt the flesh part of his skin and instead feels a soft, but ragged cloth on his neck, his fingers stinging slightly when put a bit of pressure on them. Bring both of his hands in front of his face, he was surprised to see all of his fingers wrapped in bandages.

All of his friends suddenly became sheepish when they see him looking at the bandages. "Right, you kind of cut your skin when you were pulling on that noose, so we bandaged them up for you," Clemont explains while rubbing his head awkwardly.

Noose? What is he-?

Everything starts to come back to him. Walking through the halls. Coming up to the closet. The noose being placed around his neck. His lungs suffocating while his body thrash around to get the rope off him. The memory of what happened instantly made his body stiffen. "O-Oh..."

Unable to contain herself any longer, Serena let her emotions get the better of her. "WHY THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT?!"

Her outburst made everyone snap their attention towards her, Ash even found the willpower to move his head off the pillow to stare at her with wide eyes.

"HANGING YOURSELF?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Serena continue with her lecture, not noticing how afraid Ash seem to be of her as he uses his elbows to move away from her slightly. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WE FELT WHEN WE FOUND YOU IN THE CLOSET LIKE THAT?! WHAT HAPPENED IF PIKACHU DIDN'T FOUND YOU IN TIME?! WERE YOU EXPECTING US TO FIND YOUR BODY LIKE THAT?! YOU'RE SO STUPID! YOU'RE THE STUPIDEST PERSON ON EARTH, ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash could feel his back hitting the headboard, preventing him from going any further and to face the raging blue orbs staring into his soul. It took him a moment to make sense of what Serena's loud screaming is trying to tell him. The ache in his heart somehow overpowering his body's exhaustion. "Y... Y-You actually thought I'd-?"

"Serena! Outside. Now!" Clemont came to Ash's rescue by suddenly grabbing Serena's arm and drags her over to the door. He stops for a moment to look at his little sister, "Bonnie, please keep Ash company!" Without waiting for a reply, Clemont shuts the door, leaving him and the honey-blonde girl alone in the halls.

Serena wrenches her arm free, giving the lemon-haired boy a glare. "What was that for?!"

"I thought I told you we'd leave him alone on that whole thing!" Clemont retorted. While he understands Serena's feelings for Ash, he would have thought she would know Ash better than that.

"He nearly _killed_ himself, Clemont!" Serena's patience is wearing thin. Didn't he realize how serious that is? "We have every right to know why he did that!"

"That's the thing, Serena, Ash didn't hang himself!"

Now that caught Serena off-guard. "W-What?" So Ash didn't hang himself? Then why was there a noose around his neck in the first place?

Clemont seemed to be reading her mind as he explains himself, "Look, I took a study course of the Regions' cultures back at the Academy that I use to go too. While I was taking that course, I've learned something about the people of Kanto who want to-" He stops himself to draw his thumb across his neck. The word was just too terrifying for him to say it. "When someone from the Kanto region wants to kill themselves, they removed their shoes before they commit it."

Now she's completely speechless. "Ash is from Kanto..."

"Right." Clemont nods. "And when we saw him in that closet, did he had his shoes off?" Serena shook her head. She remembers taking his shoes off when they brought him to his bed. "See? While I'll admit, Ash isn't like everyone else, he's still from Kanto. If he were to kill himself, he would have taken off his shoes before putting that noose around his neck."

"But his shoes were still on..." That came out as a whisper. Guilt began to eat her heart, what had she been thinking?! This is Ash she's talking about!

Seeing how distressed she looks, Clemont gently places a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I thought the same thing before I remember that little detail. Ash wouldn't just throw his life away like that. He cares about us too much to do that."

"Not to mention he's the one that's always smiling..." Serena adds. A smile forming in admiration as she remembers all the times where Ash kept on smiling and how he always encourage them to their best. What was she thinking? She should have known Ash would never do something like this if someone made him do it.

Wait...

"Clemont, if Ash didn't hang himself then who did?" Hearing that question made Clemont freeze. The one thing he forgot about when he tried to explain about the Kanto culture to the girls. While he did want to put the blame on Team Rocket, Clemont knew that this is very _far_ for Team Rocket to do something like this to Ash. Even they don't hate him _that_ much.

"I don't know Serena," he decided to give her his most honest answer, his gaze flickering towards the darkness inside the hall. Serena follows her gaze with a slightly frightened look. "But there's one thing for sure, we're not alone in this place..."

* * *

"So you can really die from having a rope around your neck?" Came the surprised voice of Bonnie, looking at Ash in complete awe. The young girl had set herself down on the bed with Ash, who is now lying against the pillows that are on the headboard in a sitting position. Pikachu is resting by his size, dozing off after that whole experience. Meanwhile, Dedenne and Squishy were playing ball on the floor, the events leaving their minds.

Ash nods with little strength he has left. Never before had he felt so exhausted, his body didn't feel like moving at all. His limbs ached to the point he didn't want to move then as his arms lay down on his stomach. Even now, he could still feel the soreness of this throat and the small stinging feeling in his fingers are still there. His whole body slacked against the pillows, almost disappearing into it like he wanted previously.

"Y-Yeah... That's how gravity works." His voice still had that croak tone to it. He probably should have guessed after going through all that strain with his neck. Maybe he should get some water later.

Bonnie's face suddenly frowns upon hearing that while she leans her body back while crossing her arms. "There goes that idea of scaring Daddy and Clemont on Halloween by dressing up as a hanging skeleton..."

This is one of those times where Ash didn't want to know what goes through that little girl's mind.

He just chuckles lightly before breaking into a small coughing fit. Why did throats have to be so sensitive after that whole mess?

"Gee... Your throat got it real bad, huh?" Bonnie remarks as she watches the young boy rubs his throat in hopes to soothe it. Then a thought makes its way into her mind. "Hey, how did you get into the closet like that?"

She was surprised when Ash shudders. "I-I don't want to talk about it, Bonnie... P-Please, drop it..." He wraps his arms around himself, it almost looked like he was trying to make himself smaller. To curl himself up until all his problems went away. He look so vulnerable, and the only time she's ever seen him like this was last night near the kitchen. And she didn't like that look on him. Maybe there was a way to-?

Wait!

"Hey Ash!" Her cheerful voice made Ash snap out of his frail thoughts to look up at her with curious eyes. She flashes him a smile. "You wouldn't believe what I found in the fireplace!" She reaches into her satchel and pulls out the book she had previously found before handing it to Ash. "It has all the pictures of everyone that died in this place, so I can tell it must be connected to the murder!"

"R-Really?" Ash couldn't help but asked, flipping through the book until he noticed the said pictures of the victims.

"Yep!" She then points to one of the red-circled pictures on the page. "And look! All these girls were circled. Not to mention the marker looks brand new compare to this old thing, so that means we're not alone in this house!"

He already knew that they weren't alone this place, but Ash didn't have the heart to tell her what type of people they are. If they're even people to begin with.

Sighing, Ash took a look back at the page. The first thing he thought of when he looked at marked pictures is what makes them so different from all those who died. Then he noticed two out of the five pictures.

His eyes practically grew out of their sockets while he throws the book across the bed without any warning, catching Bonnie off-guard. She looks at her raven-haired in confusion but was surprised when she sees him trying to get as much distant from the book as possible. However, since he was already at the headboard, he couldn't go that much farther from the book as it was at the footboard. So the only distant he could make is by pressing his back and arms against the headboard while curling up his feet as far as he could, his large amber eyes staring at the book like it's going to attack him.

"Gee, Ash, I knew you were dense, but I had no idea you were afraid of girls too..." Fortunately for him, Bonnie mistaken his sudden panic is from the sight of pretty girls. But Ash knew why he was so afraid, yet he couldn't tell Bonnie the reason. His memories from last night made him warily of what he says around his friends. The paranoia that's been eating him since they arrived is warning him that if he kept on telling them all the gruesome things he's been seeing, they will only think that he's gonna go insane.

So instead of replying to the girl, Ash just kept his position against the headboard. His eyes never trailing from that open page where the pictures of those who's been haunting him since he got here in fear.

 _Amanda Stone_ and _Seiko Nakashima  
_

* * *

He'd managed to get the book back from Bonnie after giving her an excuse that he still hadn't gotten all the oxygen back into his brain yet, so he ended up hallucinating that the pictures came to life and were about to attack him. She believed him, thankfully, due to her imagination and let him have the book.

Apparently he was out-cold for most of the afternoon as it is already nighttime and the storm continues to rage on outside. Serena and Clemont have already made dinner for all of them, including their Pokémon, to eat in the living room. Ash declined, however, saying that he wasn't hungry. This brought a surprise reaction out of them all, knowing how much he loves food. Thankfully, Ash was able to give them an excuse that he wanted to think for a while. Realizing he's talking about what happened, they left him alone. They would imagine something like that happening to him would left a traumatizing effect, so they could understand. But that didn't stop them from worrying.

The only ones who didn't fall for that lie were Pikachu and Greninja. The Mouse Pokémon was pretty firm about never leaving his best friend's side after seeing him in that traumatizing position. While he is grateful for his buddy's loyalty, Ash couldn't help but feel annoyed that he couldn't find someway to be alone for a while. He decided to take drastic measures; he took out the ketchup bottle from his backpack.

At that, Pikachu completely forgotten about the horror he just went through and went off to the living room. The Pokémon happily licking away the delicious red substance. Ash did his best not to shudder since the ketchup is just as red as the thing from the pantry last night.

Then there was Greninja.

The very moment Greninja was released from his Pokéball, he knew something was wrong with his trainer. Due to the Bond Phenomenon, Greninja was able to tell what Ash is currently feeling right now. Fear. Confusion. Stress. Paranoid. Dread. All of those emotions weren't something that is usually found in Ash, so Greninja had asked him what was going on. For a moment, Ash wanted to tell him what he's been seeing and going through when-

 _He'll just be like the others. He's going to think you're crazy when you tell him..._

That thought made him shut his mouth. He had no idea where that thought came from, but he listened to it, nonetheless.

It's fine, Greninja, he had told the Ninja Pokémon. I just want to be alone for a while to figure things out.

Despite giving him a suspicious glance, Greninja had unintentionally heard that thought and didn't like how it didn't sound like his trainer at all, Greninja left him alone and went to eat with the other Pokémon.

Ash felt horrible lying to Greninja, he's been lying to everyone in general, but that paranoid part of him made him dropped. They wouldn't believe him, anyway. Guess he has to figure out what's going on with this house himself.

So here he is, sitting down in an old wooden chair while reading the book Bonnie found on a desk inside the library he conveniently found. The library itself is big in general; the entire room had ginormous bookshelves that almost seem to stretch for miles thanks to the poor lighting here. When he first walked into the library and went looking for a place to sit, Ash felt like he was walking through a hedge maze. Everything seem to go in multiple directions and he thought he might have lost his way to the exit. Thankfully, he manages to find a desk and chair for him to sit at and read the book.

His blank stare never seem to trail from the marked pictures of the victims, two of the five keeping his attention focused out of them all. He felt a little thankful for the small lamp giving him some light so he can read the information about these girls' properly.

 _Amanda Stone  
_ _(1899-1915)  
_ _Caused of Death: Blood loss from having her arms removed_

She's the girl that attacked me in the kitchen, Ash thought with a grimaced. He then turns his attention to the other girl.

 _Seiko Nakashima  
(1927-1946)  
Caused of Death: Stab wound to the chest by scissors. Her tongue was found missing when the investigators discovered her corpse._

The speechless girl. He remembers encountering her in the hallway, right before... He shook his head, he didn't want to think about. After reading that she's tongue-less, it made him realized why all the words that came out her mouth were guttural and inaudible. She couldn't talk without her tongue, rendering her speechless. Literally.

He sighs. Despite feeling bad for all these girls, two of them did attack him for something and he didn't know why. How long would it be before one of those other girls decides to appear and attack him? Why are they even attacking him in the first place?

"What did I ever do to you?" His croaked voice whispers out, conveying all emotions he's feeling into that tiny whisper. He ran a hand through his face, why did all of this have to happen to him? He's so tired. Why is it always him? He wants to go home...

The light from the lamp suddenly flickers.

Ash looks up when he noticed the sudden blackout for a moment. Did that lamp just-?

The lamp flickers again before it turned off altogether. Thus, leaving Ash alone inside this gigantic place in the dark.

Ash could feel his fear coursing through his body all over again. Why did the light turn off without him doing anything? Getting out of his chair, he looks underneath the desk to find that the wire for the lamp is still plug-in. So if that means the power's out...

He shook his head. Get a grip, Ash! Maybe it's just a power outage. Yeah, that's it! But, if it was a power outage, then why couldn't hear his friends crying out from in here? Has he gone too far deep into this place that he couldn't hear anything outside? Maybe... Or what if-?

 _Thump!_

His whole body freezes upon hearing that sound. He remembers hearing that sickening noise last night, that time in the pantry where he found that corpse. It sounded like a body came flying from a thousand miles before landing on the ground with a stomach-churning crunch. That's what he heard before exploring the pantry and discovering the mangled corpse. Now, he's hearing that same sound again behind him just a few seconds ago.

But instead of getting the heck out of there like his mind told him, Ash could feel his body resisting his mind's wishes and is slowly turning around. Even when he really didn't want to do it, his body continues to ignore and he's almost fully turned around. Maybe it's because of his curiosity. That uncontrollable curiosity that everyone his age has. So no matter what type of situation he's in, his curiosity will always win him over in the end because of his never-ending desire to understand every situation.

It didn't mean he always likes his curiosity winning.

So when Ash did a full 180 degree, he mentally prepared himself to stare upon a corpse that's worse than the one in the pantry. His imagination fully expected him to gaze upon something that probably wasn't even human, something guts and organs splattered over the ground with spots of the blood right beside it. Or maybe even see heads split in half with gallons of blood pooling the floor as he stares at the dead eyes of those who were once alive.

Maybe he _is_ going insane if he's thinking these gruesome thoughts.

When he finally set his eyes on that area, every part of him became surprised when he realized there was nothing ghastly behind him.

Despite his curiosity making him wondering what was that all about, Ash could feel himself sighing in pure relief. Finally, he got a break inside this twisted place.

That was what he though before a pair of deathly cold hands are wrapped around his aching neck the moment he turned around.


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I'm back from the supposed dead! Sorry for not updating as much as I usually do, but I had a lot of things to do over the past few days. I even had homework, UGH! But, I'm back now! Giving you the prequel to the horrible angst in the Chapter 6. If you excuse me, I need to continue rebuilding my Bomb Shelter because _somebody_ broke it when they saw Chapter 6. Also, huge shoutout for StreetRacer-Sam for giving me an awesome new cover for _The Thing!_**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: I appreciate your advice, Sam, but I think I'm gonna stick with the capitals on a few screams. I only do that to show how emotionally vulnerable a character could get and I feel like using capitals could project that since it's kind of my style. I'll keep it in mind of future chapters, though.**

 **Juster of Rivia: I'm glad! Don't forget, we all were once kids ourselves. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **michmech: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Marcellasnow231: Really? Thank you! This is what I always wanted to do when I create a horror story, scare the heck out of the audience! Thank you so much for the feedback!**

 **thor94: Those two are my specialty! Don't worry, the interest of Ash isn't something as stupid as that. I'm more complex and planned out than that. The reason isn't entirely big, but I can say it's nothing like that. "Special Blood"? When did Ash had special blood?**

 **Enjoy the chapter, if Amourshippers aren't ready to kill for this chapter and the next!**

* * *

Serena realized she couldn't eat. While everyone else is happily munching away on their food, like how Pikachu is savoring every last ounce of ketchup inside that bottle, Serena didn't even touch her food. All she did was pick up a few pieces with her fork and play with them. So this is what worry does to you when you don't know what to do.

While she did agreed to leave Ash alone when he asked, Serena still couldn't help but worry. Ever since they enter the Lewis Manor a day ago, Ash has been acting strangely; First, he claims to see a corpse in the pantry and an armless woman attacking him but when she and Clemont entered the pantry they didn't even see a single sign of a corpse or struggle in there. Then, they suddenly find him inside the closet with a noose around his neck, making them believe that he wanted to kill himself. But since Ash didn't remove his shoes before committing the act, then that would mean someone is inside the mansion with them.

And the very thought of Ash going alone when the person that nearly killed him is on the loose made her tighten her grip on the fork.

Clemont seems to sense her distress as he stops eating and looks at her with curious eyes. "Is everything alright, Serena?"

"I'm just worried," Serena turns her gaze up to the staircase, her blue eyes dulling. "Should we have left him alone after what happened? What if the person who nearly hanged him comes back and does something even worse to him?"

The genius instantly recognizes the problem. After all, it didn't take equations to figure out Serena's feelings towards the raven-haired boy. "I'm sure he's fine, Serena." Clemont tries to reassure her. "He probably got caught off-guard when that person first attacked him, he wouldn't be reckless about where he goes next time. Besides, he needs some time alone after going through all that."

Serena nods her head in understanding, but her eyes still showed the heavy burden of apprehension. No matter what, Serena's feelings for him will always make her worry for Ash constantly. Seeing this, Bonnie decides to put her worries to rest.

"Come on, Serena, you're overthinking this!" The young girl says cheerfully. "Ash would beat that guy up the next time he sees tries to attack him!" Seeing the smile returning to the honey blonde's face, Bonnie continues. "Besides, if he really was in trouble, he probably would have screamed by-"

 _"Aaaaa... AAAAAAAAAA-!"_

Hearing that bone-chilling yell made all the humans and Pokémon freeze from what they were doing while all of their bodies all stiffen to the point they have aching shoulders. It didn't take them long to recognize who's scream it belongs to, but the way that person screamed... It sounded like he was about to let out the loudest scream he could manage since he sounded so terrified, but then it was abruptly cut off the very moment he started it. It's like someone wanted to silence him before they can get on with what they're doing.

Looking back at Serena's disquiet moments ago, everyone else now thought she had every right to worry. Heck, even now they can feel a similar form of dread coursing through their veins. Even Pikachu's happy fantasies of ketchup are instantly wiped away.

"Me and my big mouth..." Bonnie berated herself, but Serena didn't even pay attention to her as she is already up on her feet and ascending the stairs the fastest she could go on her bare feet. The two siblings were not so far behind, along with the Pokémon. Pikachu was the last to follow since it was busy trying to close the cap of the bottle. Who knows when he might need it the next time? Thankfully, Greninja gave it an alternative route; he picked the mouse up and left the bottle alone, much to Pikachu's complete horror

"Serena, wait!" Clemont pants, his legs already tired out to the point they're ready to collapse right there. But Serena didn't even spare him a single glance as she looks back and forth between the two paths they could lead her to the salvation or death of the boy she loves.

"Which way did he go again?!" Serena's voice came out as a demand, but they can still hear the everlasting fear behind it.

Seeing that they all can't remember which way their friend went, Clemont decides to help them with an option. "Why don't we split up? We can cover more ground that way!"

Not even waiting to give her answer, Serena is already running down the right path faster than they can blink. Following behind her are Braxien, Sylveon, Talonflame, Hawlucha, Noivern, Greninja, and Pikachu - who is still crying in Greninja's back over the defenseless ketchup bottle back in the living room. Everyone else went down the left path automatically, the worry for his friend help Clemont gain more feeling in his legs to catch up with everyone else.

The search to save their friend is on. When they find the one that's hurting their friend, that person is going to pay with their lives.

* * *

If only that person was even alive.

Despite the sudden lack of oxygen in his brain, Ash knew it was one of those marked dead girls that have her hands enfold around his neck to prevent any oxygen from coming in. He didn't know which girl it was, though. Whoever is choking him know what they're doing since he's already seeing blurry spots But feeling the bitter, icy cold hands that are suffocating his throat told him that this isn't the girl from the pantry, much to the very small part of him that's relieved.

But then he remembers the situation that he's currently in and begins to fight. He's sick and tired of this mansion playing with him and there's no way he's gonna be its plaything anymore. He wraps his own hands around the person's arms, stopping a moment as he feels the bitter skin sending shivers down his spine, and attempts to pull the hands away from his neck so he could breathe for a moment.

To his surprise, the hands didn't even move a single inch. Maybe it's the supernatural thing that would make someone undead strong beyond words. Who knows, really-

 _CRACK!_

Ash let out a dry-heaving scream when he feels the person's hands digging into his throat further to the point he could feel his larynx cracking from the pressure. Why does his mind have to keep distracting him when he's in a life and death situation?! His lungs yearn for oxygen as they're currently burning alive, but his brain couldn't perform their wishes since he's trapped. The woman holding his throat is strong beyond words and he could feel his body growing weaker and weaker by the second due to the lack of oxygen to the brain.

No matter how much his instincts tell him to not give up, Ash no longer has the strength to even bother. He can already see his vision starting to darken, his eyes welcoming the darkness as if it's a miracle worker. Maybe... Maybe the darkness could help him breathe again.

His hands lost their grip on the girl's arms as they fell to his sides, lying limp on the ground as if all the life was sucked right out of them.

* * *

Clemont usually hated running. He didn't spend most of his childhood days playing ball with the others kids, he just spent them locked up in his room so he can create inventions. Added that to the fact he's always carrying that heavy backpack of his, Clemont would think of himself the least athletic person in all of Kalos.

But hearing his best friend's scream cut off so suddenly made him forget about the burning sensation that's traveling through his lungs. He ignores the roaring aches that came from his legs' muscles. He ignores the little voice telling him to stop and lie down for a while. Right now, one of his best friends is in trouble and he is _not_ gonna just lie down like a lazy bum!

He temporally ceased his running when he finally caught up to his little sister, who has just open a door on the right side of the hallway and is look through it. He didn't know where the Pokémon went off too since he was so far behind, but he would imagine that they have broken up to cover more ground on this side.

"Did you find anything?" Clemont panted, taking the moment to rest his hands on his knees while he took deep breaths.

Bonnie seem to notice that her brother finally caught up with her as she closes the door. "No," she frowns. "Oh, why did Ash had to go off on his own?! He could have stayed with us so we could all talk about this, but _no_ , he decided to act like a tough guy and look where that got him!"

"Bonnie, he's probably going through a lot. We can't really blame him." Clemont sighed. While he understands where his sister is coming from, heck, even he wants to berate Ash for going off alone when he sees him again, he also knows that Ash is the one that's always positive no matter what happens. For something like hanging to happen to him must have left a dramatic impact on his mindset and he didn't know how to deal with it. Honestly, he didn't know how to deal with a supposedly suicide-attempt the moment he saw it, he really shouldn't be a hypocrite.

Bonnie, in spite of her brother's stern words, pulls a face, crosses her arms over her chest and turns her body away from his direction. Then again, Bonnie isn't old enough to understand the concept of what suicide can do to the human brain, especially with someone like Ash. To her, she thinks everyone's problems will just go away by talking. But there are just people out there who don't want to talk about their problems and want to figure things out themselves, Ash just so happens to be one of those people.

Before he could say anything else to her, Bonnie suddenly cuts him off with her own voice. "Hey, Clemont? You don't think Ash could be in there again, do you?"

Following his sister's gaze until he sees what she's looking at, Clemont could have sworn his heart had just skipped a couple of beats.

Standing there in the same place he and his friends left it is the closet found at the end of the left hall, AKA the same place where they found Ash nearly suffocating to death.

His genius mind began to work its gears; the idea of whoever attacked Ash and bring him back into the same place they found him the last time is very unlikely. No matter how mentally unstable this person can be, they're probably smart enough to not make the same mistake twice. Still, there's that small twenty percent chance that the person might bring Ash here because it would be the last place for them to look.

Both options have a fifty-fifty outcome of them finding Ash, but they might not like the way the outcome will turn out.

Before he could come to a conclusion, Bonnie is already heading over to the door and twisting the knob.

"Bonnie, wait-!"

She already opens the door before he could finish his sentence.

Whatever hope the siblings have about finding their best friends behind the door is instantly wash away. What suddenly came out of the closet was not Ash or the person they believe that's assaulting their friend. No, it was something worse. Something that Clemont should have covered Bonnie's eyes before she could get a chance to really look at it, but the young genius could feel his whole body freezing horror.

Out came the closet is body parts, not the ones you would find in an anatomical model. No, these are _actually_ body parts. Corpses more like it. Every visible skin has rotted away, now all that's left of their skin are decaying green layers. From what they could tell from the torn up clothes, these people were from the 1900s. And judging but their sunken, decapitated heads, they're male and female. Suddenly the story about the Lewis Mansion is replaying in their minds, how Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were cut up into pieces when their corpses were found a month after their deaths.

It only took them a few seconds to realize that these are the corpses of the couple in the painting.

Bonnie instantly launches herself onto her brother's waist the moment the body parts came, Clemont returning the tight grip by wrapping his own arms around in a instant death grip. Their shrunken, blue eyes full of fear, terror, and horror didn't move from the sight of these pieces. Their minds have completely shut down the moment they their eyes landed on these mangled corpses. They couldn't even scream properly since their voices died with their brains' shutdown, so the only sounds they could make in their throats are gags and whimpers.

They're starting to think that Ash _did_ see a corpse inside the pantry.

Then they notice a maggot crawl out of the woman's decaying mouth.

Now the two finally let their screams free.

* * *

The darkness still hasn't taken over yet. He could still see the tiny spots of blurred out colors in his vision, fading, but still there. Why couldn't they disappear? He has already given up to the darkness. Why are they still there? Maybe that girl is taking her time to strangle him. That's cruel. Or, maybe it's that small part of him that wants to keep fighting her even against all the odds. He doesn't understand why it would-

 _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

It's those screams that brought Ash back to his senses. What in the world was he thinking?! He couldn't give up right now! Judging by those screams, it sounds like his friends are in trouble. There's no way in the world is he going to let this girl get away with murdering him and leave his friends alone to suffer. Like heck!

"Ge... ...off...!"

After learning his arms weren't strong enough to push the spectral girl away, Ash reel his legs back until his knees are touching his chest before he let them loose. It was a long shot, but Ash felt an instant relief coursing through his veins when his feet made contact with something solid and the weight around his neck is immediately gone. The girl probably didn't expect him to fight back so suddenly, making her surprised when she felt the blunt forcing knocking right into her and sending her back a few feet away.

The first thing Ash did once his neck became free is taking large gulps of air. His lungs are still burning and bringing the oxygen back is able to dull the pain momentarily. His throat is still aching from the pervious time it was trapped in something, and that little episode made it even worse.

Despite all the pains he's feeling, Ash still has the strength to sit while he still took a large amount of air into his lungs. He rubs his aching throat, wincing when felt the sharp pain coming in. Now his throat will probably have those marks for life.

Ragged breathing in front of him made Ash remember that he's not alone in this library and the person who nearly strangled him is lying a few feet away.

Daring himself, Ash raise his head to look at the girl in front of him. Like the girl in the kitchen, this girl has long hair. The only differences with her is that her hair is a silvery-white that reminded Ash of snow, not to mention it's in a loose ponytail. Looking at her clothes now, which are torn-up in a few places, she appears to be wearing a dirty white, sleeveless nightgown, so Ash can assume she was sleeping when she died.

What really made him back up a few inches is the blood stain surrounding the hemline of her skirt, the dirty garment that's already ruin is continuing being plaster with fresh blood that's oozing out of her like she's still alive and heavily injured. That's when he notice no legs were sprouting out of her dress, just a complete bloody mess behind her wherever she goes.

Ash instantly knew which marked girls this is:

 _Melanie Smith  
(1886-1903)  
Caused of Death: Bleeds to death after having her legs amputated_

Melanie finally turns her bloodshot, gray eyes back to him after regaining her bearings, the blood slowly dripping down from her eyes like tears made Ash gulp and move a few inches back again. Why did ever ghost girl in this mansion seem to have a problem with him?!

 _"You..."_ Melanie growls in a howl voice, female but not human, as she uses her arms to slowly make her way over. When Ash noticed this, he kept moving backwards. Thank goodness this library is so big, otherwise Ash wouldn't know what to do if his back hit a wall since his thinking hat has shut down for now.

 _"You... You're just like them..."_ she continues. _"You..._ ** _It_** _needs you..."_ Ash is beginning who's this "It" they're referring too. _"It needs you... Like all the others... It wants you, so It can get her... It won't stop... Until she's captured, like the rest of us... It needs you... I won't let it... I won't... You won't go with It... You..._ ** _YOU WILL DIE!_** _"_

At that, she launches at him at inhuman speed. Almost as fast as the one in the kitchen.

Thankfully, not fast enough if Ash is able to roll out of the way in time and let the legless girl collide with bookshelf face-first with no problems.

Ash would have winced and felt sympathy for the girl when heard that sickening thud, but his instincts already took over him again and he's already up on his feet.

I've got to get out of here! Ash thought as he turns left, the place where he remembers coming into this area of the library and made a break for it.

However, maybe he shouldn't have run at the speed he's going so soon. His lungs still didn't have all the oxygen they needed and his throat is still burning from all the pain, so breathing while running became extremely difficult. He had to slow down for a few seconds when he couldn't breath and has to speed walk instead so he didn't have to stop. Even with all the searing pain and exhaustion shooting through his body, Ash still found the willpower to keep moving at pace despite his body's protests.

Maybe it's his determination to live that's striving him to keep going. He's only ten. He still has a long way to go before he fully grows. If he were to die right now, he won't be able to grow. He won't be able to experience all the things he didn't see yet. He won't be able to finally achieve his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.

Then he remembers how he broke out of his death trance when he heard his friends scream like they're being chased by a monster. Maybe it's not just his determination for him to live that's keeping him going, maybe it's also his determination to keep his friends safe no matter what is forcing him to continue moving forwards. He wouldn't live with himself if anything happened to his friends and he wasn't there to stop it.

Whatever the reason was, it suddenly left Ash's mind when he felt his body colliding with the door. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't even notice that he was charging right into the door. His mind and body are gasping in relief when he's so close to escaping this horrible place. He grabs the door handle and gives it a ferocious tug...

...Only to feel his heart stopping momentarily when the door didn't move.

It's locked. Just like the door back in the kitchen...

"No, no, _no!_ " Ash rattles the handle with all of his might, he even slams his body against the door in order to bust it open if he has too. His moves became increasingly violent when his efforts to open the door still didn't work. Normally, Ash wouldn't be this violent when he's trying to get a stuck door to open, but now he's desperate. The fact about him not wanting to die is effecting his judgement and now he's willing to do anything to stay alive.

Just when he thought his efforts were completely futile and he was going to breakdown right there, the door gave a sudden lurch. While it didn't open all the way, it's a little out of place, which means it's loose for someone to grab the edges and pull the door open the rest of the way. And that's exactly what Ash needs.

Grasping the edge of the loose door with his bandage-covered fingers, Ash begins to pull at the door with all the strength his aching muscles have left. He ignored the searing pain that shot through his fingers from his old injuries. Right now, all he cares about is escaping the library and get away from it ASAP.

It seems like he might just be able to since he feels the door moving slowly. It's a slow process, but the door is close to opening. And that's just enough for Ash.

 _"Where are you going...?"_

Ash's whole body stiffens when he hears that vile voice entering his ears. Has she already reached him? How come he didn't hear her coming towards him? He's pretty sure he would be able to hear someone dragging their legless body over to him. Daring himself to look, Ash moves his head slightly to look over his shoulder. His breath hitches once he realizes what he's staring at.

The legless girl is not lying down on the ground like he would expect her too since she has no legs. No, it looks like she's standing upright in a slouched position, similar to the armless girl. Seeing that she still has no feet on the ground indicates that she's floating, which would explain why her hair is being blown by an invisible wind.

But what made his breath hitched his her face. Before, she had two grey-eyes with blood trailing down her cheeks like tears. Now, her eyes are completely gone. What once were her eyes are gouged eye sockets, blood dripping down from those bloody holes like a stream. To him, this is even worse than seeing the armless girl in the kitchen.

 _"You're still not dead..."_ She continues like she's confused about why her favorite toy isn't working the way she wants it too. _"Come over here... It won't hurt..."_

He didn't care if it will hurt or not, Ash is not gonna die anytime soon!

Without even noticing what he was doing, Ash actually _ripped_ the door open with all of his remaining strength. Unprepared for that sudden act, Ash stumbles out of the library and falls face-first into the hallway.

 _"Come here..."_

Remembering the ghoul he left behind, Ash whips his head back to stare at the open door to the library. Every part of him was suspecting the legless girl to be following after him to the hallway since she seems so determine to kill him.

So you can imagine his surprise when he saw that there was no one behind him or in the library.

He's all alone in the hallway. Almost like he'd just imagine the whole thing.

His body seem to have finally caught up with reality because his exhaustion from all his pervious experiences hit him with full force. With a tired moan, Ash lays his face on the fluffy fabric of the rug that's inside this hallway. He didn't care if some dust got on his face. He's too tired to even bother.

Is he ever gonna get a break in this corrupted mansion?

* * *

Ash eventually found the strength to lift himself back on his feet and walk down the hall. He still needs to find his friends. After hearing those screams, Ash knew at that point his friends must have discovered something horrible. Maybe now they will finally believe him about everything he's been seeing inside this mansion.

But before he could worry about his friends, he has to worry about walking through this dark hallway.

He didn't know if his brain is finally cracking under the pressure and he's hallucinating, but Ash is pretty sure that this hallway keeps getting darker the further he walks. The feeling of trepidation is already crawling up his throat while ghastly predictions are entering his thoughts. Maybe he's going to see one of those marked ghost girls soon enough and they'll attack him again. Then there's also the chance of him seeing a very gruesome sight of a corpse. He knows that a lot of people have died here and the possibility of seeing another corpse is greater than his chances of him giving up eating.

Then a horrible thought enters his mind; is he going to see the corpses of his friends the further he walks down the hall?

The thought immediately sends shivers done his spine and Ash quickens his pace. He's not going to let something like that happen to his friends. Not while he's still standing.

The hallway seems to be endless. Ash is beginning to feel like he's been walking for ages. Just when he was about to stop and rest, something suddenly pops out of the darkness from the corner of his eyes.

A wooden chair is conveniently placed in the middle of the hallway. Ash would have normally been suspicious about that but his focus suddenly turns to the head popping out from the upholstery. He couldn't see the person's face since they're facing the darkness of the hallway, meaning he could only see the back of the person's head. But Ash instantly recognizes that honey-blonde color and the short length hairstyle anywhere.

"Serena!" Ignoring the way his throat jerks in protest from his shout of relief, Ash quickly makes his way over to his best friend. "Oh man, you have _no_ idea how happy I am to see you!"

Maybe he shouldn't jinx himself so soon.

Instead of replying, "Serena's" head suddenly lurches to the left before it falls to the ground right beside the chair. That is all that came over; a head. Nothing else. No body. All Ash saw is a decapitated head of his best friend. Looking at it now, though, the head didn't even belong to Serena. The girl's head appears to be older by her facial features and her skin is too pale to match Serena's flawless skin.

It didn't stop Ash from seeing the decapitated head's innards from the neck, though.

Ash falls to his knees, his whole body going numb. His stomach violently jerks at the sight of those innards before he feels something rising up his throat. He immediately clasps his hands over his mouth as quick as he could to keep his liquidize food from escaping. A deep chill suddenly crawls up his pine, making his whole body freeze, literally.

It's a coldness, unlike anything he's ever felt before. No minus zero degrees blizzard has ever felt this cold. Not even all the chills he's been feeling since he got into this place. No, this cold feels like the bitter cold that has never been touch by the warmth in its life. Like all it knows is the artic weather.

A sudden blackness begins creeping its way into Ash's vision. The way those tendrils sway and how they slowly creep up is like they're trying to encase him in the world of black. Ash slowly turns his head over his shoulder, his hands still over his mouth, when he suddenly feels a presence over him. He didn't know how he knew, but it feels like a heavy pressure is pressing over his body, and he knows it's not the exhaustion. What he saw made him completely freeze.

Two orbs stare at him in the dark abyss that's surrounding him. Yellow as the full moon on a midnight, those two orbs seem to be piercing right into his very soul. Even though they seem completely lifeless, Ash can still see the hidden malice behind them. Whatever this thing is it wants to do something to him, but he didn't know what it's planning.

Due to his body being paralyzed with fear, Ash couldn't do anything as the thing wraps its creepy black tendrils around him. Trapping him from going anywhere if he somehow gains control over his body and moves away from it. Ash squeezes his eyes shut when he feels the tendrils move around him, its grip on him tight. He could feel those tentacles making their way to his mouth.

Why can't this house just put him out of misery?"

 _"_ _ASH!"  
_

* * *

Serena didn't know how long she was running. The way her legs scream at her to stop since they're aching so badly probably meant she's been running for too long. But no matter how much her legs either scream or beg, she won't stop. She could hear all of Ash's screams echo off the walls of this hallway, each one sounding terrified than the last. She knows that he's trouble, and she's going to do everything she can to protect him.

She didn't know where she's going. She's lost the rest of the Pokémon behind since she was running so fast. All she did is follow the screams.

Finally, she found him. He's on his knees in the middle of the hallway, an old wooden chair in front of him. His back is in a slouch position like his body has lost all of its energy. Before she could react, Ash regurgitates all the food inside his stomach onto the floor.

"Ash!" Seeing him throwing up so suddenly made her worry. What happened him that made his food leave his stomach?

Serena instantly runs over to him, dropping to her own knees while she places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?! Ash, what's wrong?"

She didn't expect him to whip his head towards her at full force. His amber brown eyes that were once full of joy and happiness are now filled with blank rage.

"Where the heck have you been?!" Ash's voice started to scream at her, that voice is screaming at her despite it breaking a few times the more he screams. "Do you have _any_ idea of what I've just been through?! I was nearly killed just a few seconds ago! Where were you?!"

"I-"

"What about all that talk about always staying together, huh?! Was that just an empty promise?!"

"That-"

"Shut up! You always think everything has to go your way! On the one time where I _really_ needed you, you decided to think I'm crazy! Some friend you are! You think it's funny that I'm going through all of this?! Well, guess what, Serena? YOU'RE THE WORST FRIEND I'VE EVER HAD!"

With that, he jerks his head away from her to stare at the vomit-covered floor in front of him. If she were paying attention, she would have noticed the way a sob escapes his throat whenever he breathes out. She would have notice tears dripping down his eyes, showing how emotionally disturbed he is.

But she didn't pay attention. She didn't see Ash's current condition. All she could think about is one thing;

 _Besides, if anything bad does happen, I'll protect ya!_

* * *

 **If you all thought what Ash said was bad, wait until you see the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hey everyone. Sorry for the week delay, I was working something on Wattpad and that took a little of my time. But I managed to finish both of this chapter and the Wattpad project (at least, the prologue) on time and I now I can finally post this! I'm really sorry for keeping you guys waiting after that whole beginning argument scene, but maybe you'll forgive when I give you Chapter 6? On second thought, you guys will probably want to kill me after reading this chapter.**

 **...I'm gonna go prepare my bomb shelter...**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: *Sigh* Okay, I'll keep that tip in mind.**

 **thor94: Thanks! Yeah, I like making people suffer, just my sadistic nature. :) Uh, I may have an idea to what you're saying, and it's nothing like that! It technically doesn't count as a tentacle, anyway. Um, nobody said anything about going after Ash because of Serena. And who said that Serena is what It needs? Also, yeah, I did make Ash pretty broken, but wait until you see the chapter below! :)**

 **Juster of Rivia: Thank you! Wow, I am literally speechless right now. I can't tell you why, though. You'll have to find out in the future. ;)**

 **Also, if you're reading this Steel, sorry for making you cry again.**

 **Enjoy the chapter! Or not...**

* * *

The very moment they regain their composures after all that screaming, Clemont slams the closet door shut, took his sister by the hand, and runs down the hallway as fast as possible. At this point, Clemont no longer cares for his body's demands of him stopping. He just continues to run down the hall while gripping his sister's hand tightly. Along the way, he could have sworn he's seen some of the Pokémon popping out of the corner his eyes and they're now following him and his sister.

But he didn't care about that. Neither did Bonnie as she continues to keep up with her brother's pace. They didn't care about anything else. There was only one thought that keeps coursing through their brains; _We should have believed him_.

The moment Ash came screaming for them from the kitchen, they should have realized something was wrong with the Lewis Manor than it already is. They have known Ash since the beginning the of their Kalos Journey, spending many months and experiencing everything together. They should have believed him the moment he told them how there's something horrible inside this place and be a little suspicious about their surroundings.

But they didn't. Instead, they took the easy path. They believed it to be something from Ash's imagination. They believed that Ash was beginning to get a little stir crazy from staying in one place because he always loves to travel. Just thinking that their friend was acting strangely was easier than dealing with the possible horrors inside the Lewis Manor.

They're horrible friends...

That thought only made them run faster, Clemont even looks like he isn't breaking a sweat. They may have failed as Ash's friends before but now they're determined to make it up to him.

So when they found Ash and Serena on their knees in the middle of the hallway with both of their heads down, their Pokémon staring at them as if something terrible has just occurred, the siblings knew they have to tell Serena the truth.

"Serena, we have to get out of here!" Bonnie cries, her voice trembling as she thought about the corpses from the closet.

"Ash was right! There is something horrible going-!" Clemont cut himself off when Serena suddenly stood up. Her head is still down, but it appears to be in the direction of Ash's quivering body.

"So, that's it, huh?" Clemont and Bonnie both blink in surprise at how agitated Serena's voice sounds. And from the looks of things, she's directing her voice at the trembling Ash. They would have never thought Serena would actually use that tone with Ash out of all people.

What she said next really made their jaws drop. "You... You thought you could get me with this silly little prank of yours... Well, guess what, Ash Ketchum?! I didn't fall for it one single bit because this is the cruelest prank you have ever pulled!"

It didn't take long for them to realize that something must have happened before they reached the two of them. To a normal bystander who has just witness Serena yelling at Ash like that, they would have thought that this girl was being unfair to this boy. That was also the first thing that popped into the sibling's mind after witnessing that. But they didn't say anything. Mostly because they didn't know the whole story so they expected Ash must have said something first. They decided to wait to see where this conversation is going before they decide to break it up.

Ash had whipped his head towards her the moment Serena finished her sentence. They were surprised at the blank look of rage underneath his tear-stained face. "What the heck is _that_ suppose to mean?!"

"Don't play dumb! You know what I'm talking about!" Serena's glare didn't leave him as he stood up and gave her his own glare with his blank eyes. "The whole story about the Lewis Family, people being murdered inside this house a long time ago, you decide to use those stories to prank all of us in most horrible ways possible!"

"I was nearly _killed_ a few times, Serena! Ya actually think I would go that far just for a _prank?!"_

"You've made it this far, so I'm not surprised!"

Ash actually lets out a small growl while he tightens his fist until they were white, too white for his skin color. "Ya know, I can't believe I actually invited you to travel with me. You're so selfish! All you ever care about is looking at the things you want to see! Like how I came to you for help, you decide to go what you wanted to see instead of actually believing in me!"

Serena felt ready to explode. Never before has she ever felt so agitated, especially when it came to Ash. But she found out she couldn't stop herself. What Ash said to her had hurt her heart, and she found herself unable to let that go. She let the part that wanted to hurt Ash like how he hurt her take over. "W-Well..."

If she only realized what she said next would leave a colossal effect on Ash than what his words did to her.

"I'm starting to see why your dad decided to leave you after you were a day old! I can barely stand to be in the same room with you as well!"

Clemont and Bonnie's breaths hitch in a way they never thought was possible. They wanted to believe that their brain was playing tricks on them and they didn't hear what they have just heard. Even when they already know what they have just heard _that_ , they were still in denial. Serena, out of all people, said something like _that_ to Ash. It just didn't seem possible.

Yet it happened. Serena did bring Ash's Dad into their small, if it should even be call "small", quarrel. The one person who could actually hurt Ash just by the mentioning of him.

Oh, sweet Arceus, Ash... They couldn't even describe the look on his face.

Serena was actually surprised Ash didn't even say anything after that. A part of her felt a little prideful for making him speechless. He deserved that after all the things he said to her. Then, there's this strange side of her that is making her feel the opposite of being prideful of what she has done. Is it, guilt? Why would she feel guilty? Ash was the one who started all of this by saying those awful things to her!

It finally took her a minute to fully realize what she had just said to Ash. With words like that, it shouldn't have even taken a minute to fully realize them.

A wave of self-hatred instantly washes over her heart the moment she realized what she had just said. Never before had she hated herself until this very moment. If anything, Ash had every right to say all the things he had just said to her.

Oh, Arceus... How on earth did she feel satisfied with what she said after seeing Ash's face like that?

She takes a small step forward, her hand reaching out to him. "Ash, I..." She tries, hoping that Ash would listen to her. At this point, Serena knew she has to make this up to him. And she won't stop until she does.

However, Ash didn't seem like he wanted to listen what she had to say. He didn't want to listen to her anymore. So when she tried to put her hand on his shoulder, Ash just broke into a run. She didn't know where he was going, but she knew it was probably as far away from her as possible. She could feel her whole body freezing the moment Ash turned away from her. She didn't even bother to look at the others, who have already run down after Ash. She just stares at the empty space that was once Ash.

The thoughts of that conversation keep replaying in her mind over and over again; _I'm starting to see why your dad decided to leave you! I'm starting to see why your dad decided to leave you! I'm starting to see why your dad decided to leave you!_

What have I done?

* * *

Clemont and Bonnie both wince when they heard another crash coming from behind the door, followed by loud thuds on the walls and incomprehensible yelling within the room.

After seeing Ash run off after his fight with Serena, the siblings didn't hesitate to run after him along with the Pokémon. They couldn't imagine the immense pain their raven-haired friend must be feeling right now. But they know that at this point they need to be there for their friend now more than ever. And that's exactly what they're planning to do.

They didn't expect Ash to lock himself in his room and take his pain out in the environment around him, not to mention they can hear him shouting things like "My fault" over and over again.

Bonnie once again winces when she hears another loud thud, possibly Ash trying to hit the wall as hard as he could. "Gee, he's really taking this hard..."

Clemont didn't even bother to comment on his sister. Instead, he took a step forward and knock on the door.

The thud sounds immediately stopped.

"Ash? It's Clemont..." The young genius explains, hoping his friend won't explode at him if he thought it was Serena behind the door. "Do you... Do you wanna come out so we can talk?"

"Go away, Clemont!"

Clemont flinches away from the door. Okay, so maybe Ash would explode at him either way.

"Ash, look, I know what Serena said was horrible. Not to mention you have every right to be mad at her, but you can at least come out? You know you can't stay in there forever."

"Wanna bet on it?!"

Bonnie frowns at the rude tone Ash is using for her big brother. She takes a step forward until she's right beside Clemont. "Come on, Ash! I get that you don't like to talk about your Dad and what Serena said was rude, but you don't have to act like a jerk over it!"

"Bonnie!" Clemont chastised her, but it was already too late.

"You have _no_ idea to what I'm feeling right now!" The two sibling back away when Ash's screaming became louder like he's actually behind the door and ready to pounce on them. "You... You two grew up with a father! _I_ never even knew him! _Everyone_ around me has at least know what their dad looks like! I never did! Because he suddenly decides that I'm not good enough for him so he just up and left us! It's all my fault!"

The moment he was done screaming at them, they instantly heard sobbing coming from behind the doors. Just hearing him admit all that stuff about his non-existence relationship with his father nearly tore their hearts apart. Ash was right, they couldn't understand the pain he's going through. They grew up with a father that's always been there for them. Ash didn't and he blames himself for it.

Sighing, Clemont moves forward once again. "Ash... Look, you're right. Bonnie and I can never understand what you've been through. We have a dad in our lives, you don't. But, if you need anything, we can always talk. I'm sure after this, we can get Serena here so we can all-"

"I never wanna see her face again!" Clemont flinches when the screaming voice of Ash came back. "Why don't you two just do me a favor and go away?!"

"But Ash!" Bonnie tries this time. "Serena didn't mean what she said! Can't you two just talk it out?!"

"Go away!"

Clemont could feel his patience growing thin. "Ash, you and Serena are bound to talk to each other eventually-"

"I said _go away!_ "

 _CRASH!_

This time the siblings actually stumble back when they heard the sound of vase crashing against the door. It didn't take them long to realize Ash had just thrown a vase in their direction. To think, he could get so upset that he'd actually get violent...

Sighing, Clemont turns to Greninja and Pikachu, who have been staring at the whole exchange with astonished eyes. "Keep an eye on him, we're gonna go find Serena."

The two nod, giving the others the chance to go off and find Serena while they stay behind to try to console Ash in his time of need.

If only they were looking up, then they would have noticed the two golden orbs staring at them from the darkness above.

Everything is finally falling into place.

* * *

 **Before you all say it...**

 **Yes. I did make Serena go there.**

 ***Puts on helmet and runs off to bomb shelter***


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: *Looks at beaten up bomb shelter* ... *Takes deep breaths* Seriously?! Seriously, you guys?! Oh, you're gonna get it... Ahem, sorry! That was my vindictive side talking, or maybe she's still taking. Anyway, I know that there are a lot of Amourshippers who are all lined up and ready to lynch me, but may I remind you that I have a secret weapon that can block all of your attacks! It's called, numbness. I'm sadistic writer who likes to torture characters with suspense, what did you suspect? Don't worry, I'm gonna let you guys breath a little in this chapter before things really start to get crazy in the next.**

 **Crestilia: You had just unleashed my vindictive side...**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: I can't really say anything on that because I might reveal something from the plot. And thank you. I really do want to improve my writing. I might not need my bomb shelter from you, but who's to say the other Amourshippers are gonna sleep easy?**

 **michmech: Thanks, you won't be getting the wrath of the vindictive side. I really did try to make this realistic. Ash is still technically human, so he will have his moments where he breaks down and snaps. Oh yeah, the Donner Party. I know all about that thanks to Wendigoes.**

 **Roger0326: I can't say for certain how long it's gonna be. But I can say that there will probably be 20 chapters or more.**

 **Ash Ketchum: And I'm sure the real Ash Ketchum wouldn't say the f-word either. Besides, it's not cannon. Everything that happens isn't tied with the Anime.**

 **Trinity Sparks: Uh, thanks?**

 **Uptownfunk: ... I literally have no comment on that.**

* * *

Serena felt numb. Guilt has a funny way of making you react to certain things that are supposed to be traumatizing. She's been bucked off of Rhyhorn ever since she was a little girl, she always remembered crying over all the injured she would get. To a little girl, that would have been traumatizing. Remembering what she said to Ash, she didn't fee like the little girl. That little girl just cries through her problems and faces them all over again the next day.

Serena didn't cry. She didn't move at all as she sat down on the living room's couch. Her blue eyes that once had their own unique shine has now become dull and blank as they stare at her lap. If anything, she would rather prefer crying like a little girl again than act like a motionless puppet.

Her words towards Ash kept replaying in her mind over and over like someone kept pressing the _reverse_ button to torture her for her past actions. Even now, though, Serena is still in denial from what she said. She knew what Ash's nonexistent relationship with his father is like, even with the small talk from Ash's part, she knew that it isn't something worth mentioning to him.

Sweet Arceus, what in the world compelled her into saying something like _that?_ Even if Ash never said it before, they all knew that he blames himself for his father's abandonment. They all knew. She knew! And yet, she had reminded Ash of that nonessential guilt by saying he _does_ have a problem with making people leave him.

Why didn't she hold back?

The pitter-patter of footsteps coming from the stairs caught her attention. For a moment, she instantly hoped it was Ash coming down to talk to her. She did her best to hide her disappointment when it was actually Clemont, Bonnie, and the Pokémon. There was no Ash, Greninja, or Pikachu in sight. Her thoughts made her think that Greninja and Pikachu are staying upstairs to comfort Ash the best way they can.

"How he is?" Those were the words that immediately popped into her mind. However, seeing the looks on their faces made her regretting asking that question.

"Well, he threw a vase at us," Bonnie comments dryly as she hops onto the couch and crosses her arms over her chest. "I guess that mostly explains it."

Serena drops her gaze back down to her lap, the same shame she felt before in the hallway after Ash had run off began creeping up again. She could already feel a lecture about to come out of Clemont, and she's ready for it. She's willing to hear all the possible cruel words that she obviously deserves. Or better yet, have a Rhyhorn slam into her a thousand times. That should be her real punishment.

What she didn't know, Clemont instantly changed his mind about his well, thought-out lecture he had planned for the honey-blonde the moment he saw her face. He was quick to realize that Serena truly feels remorse for her previous dialogue. Why else would she look like she's beating herself up over this? Looking back on his lecture, it did sound kind of harsh if he were to say them now when Serena is showing regret. So, instead, he asked one question; "Why?"

Serena couldn't hold back a flinch. It wasn't the lecture she was expecting, but it still flared up her guilt. She knew what Clemont meant by that one word yet it still fills her with the same dread. She didn't even know how to respond to that when she didn't know the answer herself.

"Why did you say it, Serena?" Clemont continues when she didn't say anything. "I get that you were angry at him, but why that?" Nothing in response. "Serena, you remember how Ash reacted when we asked him about his Dad." She did remember, but she still didn't say anything. "You know as well as I do that even though it clearly wasn't his fault, Ash blames himself for his father leaving him.

"So, why did you say that he is the reason his father left?"

At that point, Serena couldn't hold it back anymore. The guilt was eating her alive and she let it. The dam behind her eyes has finally collapsed and the waterworks are already flooding down her cheeks. Her throat constricts with every choked sob escaping, bringing more pain to her physical condition to match the pain she's filling emotionally. She slumps her head down into her trembling hands where she let all of her sobs out.

Seeing their friend like this made the siblings and the Pokémon soften their gaze. Maybe they were being a little unfair to her. It's clear that Serena regrets all the things she had said. It was just seeing their best friend, showing his complete vulnerable side to them made all of their hearts swell. They really wanted to be mad at Serena because it seemed easier to dwell with when Ash is like this. Now their emotions are once again conflicted when they realized they couldn't stay mad at Serena if she's showing remorse.

Upon seeing their trainer crying, Braxien, Pancham, and Sylveon immediately ran over to her. The two-legged Pokémon are softly patting her shoulders while Sylveon uses her feelers to try and dry off the nonstop flowing tears. While they understand what Serena said to her friend was completely horrid, they couldn't stay mad at her for long. After all, she is their best friend.

Finally coming to terms with himself, Clemont walks over to the couch until he was in front of Serena and kneels down to her level. His movements caught her attention and Serena looks up at him with her bloodshot, tear-filled eyes.

"Look, Serena, if you _really_ feel bad about all of this, I think the best thing you can do right now is wait for Ash to come down so you can apologize to him then," Clemont explains. "Don't go up and find him now, though, he's still trying to recover..."

Clemont didn't have the heart to tell Serena how Ash reacted at the mention of her name. Just telling her will only bring more grief amongst them and he didn't want that. The best thing he can do for all of them right now is keeping the peace and hope that Ash is gonna be okay.

Serena looked like she wanted to object but she instantly closed her mouth the moment Clemont's words hit. He's right, she shouldn't go confronting Ash right now. Looking back at his face from the hallway, she knew she is the last person that Ash would want to see right now. If he didn't explode at her in the hallway after she said all those awful things, she didn't even want to imagine how he would react to her during his process of re-gathering his thoughts. So she just nods her in response. "Okay..."

Clemont nods in acknowledgment before taking a seat right next to his sister. Now all they have to do is wait for Greninja and Pikachu to come down, hopefully, Ash with them.

During all that time, Clemont and Bonnie have completely forgotten about telling Serena the not-so-interesting discovery they'd made about the Lewis household.

* * *

Greninja and Pikachu both stood awkwardly at the front of the door where they can hear the painful sobs coming from their trainer. They've been standing for a while since Clemont asked them to stay and look after Ash. While they're glad that they don't hear any thuds or him screaming, so it probably means that he isn't harming his room, and probably himself, anymore, it did pain them to listen at his angst.

They're still in denial that someone like Serena could say something like that to Ash. They've known Serena since they beginning of their Kalos Journey and right there they could tell that the human girl has very strong feelings for their human. If anything, they thought those two deserved on another. Even despite Ash's obviousness to romance, they could also tell that Ash tends to react differently around her. They really thought those two could have a future together.

Then Serena went ahead and dropped that bomb.

Now they have to comfort their trainer when he has something that technically doesn't count as a heartbreak.

When it seemed like his sobbing died down, Pikachu took a step forward and was about to knock on the door.

"I know you're there, Pikachu... Greninja..."

Pikachu flinches the moment he heard his trainer's muffled voice coming from behind the door. He half-expected Ash to yell at him like he did to Bonnie and Clemont, but was surprised when he, instead, heard Ash's voice to barely come above a whisper. They could hear the breaking point of his voice due to all the yelling and sobbing he's been doing lately. It didn't take a blind person to know that Ash is beyond exhausted right now.

After regaining his senses, Pikachu knocks on the door. "Pika-pi?"

"I-I'm fine, Pikachu..." That sob in the middle of the sentence told them otherwise. "You and Greninja don't have to look after me, I'll be f-fine..."

Greninja decides to make his presence known. "Gre, Gre!"

"Leave me alone, Greninja!" Pikachu winces when Ash's voice increased in volume. It wasn't loud like how he used it for Clemont and Bonnie, but it still showed that Ash was still upset.

"Gre! Gre!" Greninja continues to persist. There are times where Pikachu wonder how Greninja knew what to say bluntly so that Ash can pay attention to him. Maybe it was because of that whole Bond Phenomenon thing.

"You don't have any idea on how I'm feeling!"

"Gre!"

"Don't you make me talk about her! I _never_ want to see her again!"

Pikachu shot the Ninja Pokémon a dry look. He _had_ to mention Serena when Ash wasn't ready to talk about her again. Greninja sweat-dropped nervously, realizing his mistake. To think that the Bond Phenomena would make him able to understand the _exact_ level of Ash's emotional pain, yet he still couldn't find the right words to comfort him.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu went up to the door pound on it lightly with his little fists.

"Go away, Pikachu..." Ash's voice became lower and shook with every syllable, making them realize Ash is very close to another fit. "I-I _really_ want to be alone right now..."

"Pika-pi!"

"L-Leave me alone!"

With that, their trainer broke into another sobbing fit. Even when they're being muffled from the door, the two Pokémon could hear each sob growing more agonizing than the last. It was like somebody has just stabbed a piece of glass through his heart and now he's crying and screaming at the same time through the pain.

Unable to hear this anymore, Pikachu gives Greninja a look full of tears ready to be released. Greninja sighs before he stalks off, Pikachu following behind him. Ash is right, even in an unstable condition. Maybe the best thing for him right now is to be alone. He obviously needs some time to figure things out in his head. Just hovering over him will only make his mental state even worse since he won't be able to think and would only focus on the pain that's coursing through him.

They'll wait with others downstairs until Ash is ready to come out.

What they didn't know is that leaving their trainer alone will be the biggest mistake they will regret in their lives. Because they didn't stick around long enough to notice a black mist seeping its way in through the bottom rail.


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay with this chapter especially after what happened in the last few chapters. See, I was working on a new Wicked story called _Boy and Beast_ and I was spending most of my time working on the first two chapters so I didn't get a chance to work on the chapter I was supposed to work on for _The Thing_. So, as an early Christmas gift for all you wonderful people, I present to you Chapter 8 of _The Thing_. I promise, as soon as I finish working on the second chapter of _Boy and Beast_ , I will work on the unfinished of _The Thing_ I was supposed to published before this!**

 **thor94: Uh, I wouldn't call it a ritual.**

 **Juster of Rivia: It's great to see you again! Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Things were silent amongst the group of friends, Bonnie didn't even make a sound since she understood the seriousness of the situation. No one dare themselves to speak up for fear of making things worse than they already are. They just continue to sit in silence, despite the never-ending stillness beginning to feel a little unbearable.

As they continue to sit in silence, it made the siblings realize how they could hear everything in the environment around them. The memories of the corpses they found have eventually made its way back into their minds and now they're more anxious than ever. A single noise will probably make them panic on the spot. The worse part is that they have forgotten to tell Serena about what's been happening inside this household. But a part of them wonders if telling her that Ash was right about the Manor this whole time would only make her guilt worse.

Soft sounds of footsteps coming from the stairs immediately caught their attention. They turn their heads, expecting to see Ash but instead see a despondent Pikachu and a discouraged Greninja making their way down the steps. The looks on their faces instantly told them how things had just gone with their raven-haired friend.

"Let me guess, he's not gonna come down?" Clemont asked once the two Pokémon have finally made their way over to them on the couch. The two shook their heads, confirming the young genius's question. Pikachu hops onto Bonnie's lap and lets himself rest there, letting the soft rubs Bonnie is giving him on his back to soothe his troubles. He needs it after that whole mess.

Clemont sighs, afraid that this might happen. He turns back to the girls. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do is turn in for the night. It's getting late, anyway. Ash will probably come out and talk things out tomorrow."

Him using the word "probably" didn't really make her feel any better. That will just be giving the possible scenario of Ash never coming down at all and she will have to live with the guilt of what she has done forever. However, Serena tried to stay positive. Maybe Ash will eventually calm down and come out of the hole he had dug himself into. Hopefully, willing to listen to what she has to say.

* * *

Ash really thought he understood pain. He had been roasted by Flamethrowers more times than he could count. He had been electrocuted at least the same amount of times. He had endured many Pokémon moves and was still able to find the strength to stand up despite the throbbing pain that coursed throughout his body. Even the time where he had almost froze to death back in Unova, where his whole body had been stung with the icy, bitter coldness while it rendered him rigid on the ground as the frost slowly began to kill him.

But that was nothing compared to the hidden feelings Serena's words had brought back when he was just a little boy.

That pain he's currently feeling, he had almost forgotten what it felt like. It has been so long since the last time he felt it. Once the pain had taken over, Ash instantly remembered it. It was as if someone had stabbed him multiple times in the heart before grabbing it and slowly began to crush it until it was just an empty mess. Added that to all the stress he's been feeling inside this household, the pain had grown ten times worse than what he felt as a kid.

Thankfully, after his whole episodes, the pain eventually died down from agonizing torture to a throbbing ache. It was still there and it still hurt, but at least he could endure it for a little while longer. He's just glad that he isn't throwing a tantrum anymore.

It didn't change the fact that his entire room hasn't suffered from his frenzy.

Everything was a mess. All the relics inside the room were broken into multiple pieces that they surround the bed in a dangerous trap, so if someone were to try and walk on this floor, they would suffer from multiple scraps on their feet. Laying right on top the of the broken shards are the torn curtains from the windows. The walls that had been keeping his rage contained are now covered in bumps and holes that are about the size of Ash's fists. Oh, wait...

Even the bed was a mess. A pillow had been thrown across the room a little while ago. The sheets had almost been nearly ripped apart due to his stress and sudden urge to grip them as tight as he could. Now, the ancient sheets are now wrinkled beyond imagination. Even now as Ash laid on his bed facing the ceiling with dull eyes, his grip continues to remain vigorous on the sheets that are still being crush by his hands on each side. If he noticed his hands were cramping up from all the strain, he didn't seem to care.

His whole episode had been strenuous. His entire body, except for his hands, no longer wanted to move anymore. His brain didn't seem functional anymore. He knew he couldn't sob or cry anymore, but there's still tears rolling down his eyes and staining the bed. Maybe that's the pain taking over his body actions since his brain is probably just as drained out as he is. _Yeah, sorry pal,_ he imagined his brain talking to him. _I'm beaten, so someone else has to take over._

He decided to let himself think to ignore the pain for a moment. However, his pain made him immediately think about Serena's words again. No matter what, that pain will always find a way to keep making him miserable.

Why did Serena have to say that to him? Why did she do it? More importantly, why did Serena had to be one to say all of that? If it were anybody else, he would actually want to stay angry at them. It would be so much easier for him to deal with the pain the way. But, no. Serena, the girl he'd always have strange feelings over, was the one that reminded him of his guilt. With Serena, things have become more complicated. He didn't want to stay mad at Serena, a part of him knew that it wasn't her fault for screaming at him, he was the one that started it when he finally let this place get to him. But his pain wouldn't let him let go. No matter what he feels, Serena's words will always hurt him.

He doesn't even know if he should forgive her.

Ash sniffed. Whatever he wanted to admit it or not, but Clemont was right. He couldn't stay here forever. He'll eventually have to come down when he gets hungry, especially since he hardly ate anything from the moment he arrived in this household. Maybe he'll patch things up with Pikachu and the siblings for the way he treated them when they were only trying to help him.

But then that would mean facing Serena.

He sighed. Why did his father have to leave him?

 _Ding_

 _Ding_

His eyes widen. Not because of the old grandfather that's ringing outside in the hallway, signaling midnight. It was this strange sensation that spread over his body the moment the first ring came. There was no warmth or coldness coming from it, but it did make his entire being stiffen. It was like somebody was using Psychic on him.

Wait...

Ash tries to move his arms. Immediate dread begins to course through his veins when he realized he couldn't move. Instead of expecting his arms to shift slightly, a devastating amount of pressure is suddenly pressed on them. It hurt to move, but he still tried. The only thing that kept changing is the pressure that seems to be doing anything it can to be painful for him. Even when he tried his other appendages, the pressure just keeps coming back worse than the last.

When the pressure became unbearable, Ash opened his mouth to let out one of his most agonizing screams.

Only to realize no sound came out.

He was trapped on his bed, unable to move or speak.

 _Somebody, help..._ Ash begged in his mind, his inner voice sounding small as if he was actually talking. He closed his eyes, unable to handle all the stress he's feeling. _Anybody... Please... Pikachu... Bonnie... Clemont... S-Serena... Greninja-_

His eyes popped open. _Greninja!_ How could he have forgotten about their mind links?

 _Greninja!_

* * *

Clemont looked up when the old grandfather began ringing. The two hands are placed over the roman numeral version of twelve. It's midnight. They've been awake all the day and everything happened before they could fully process it. Realizing how late it was, Clemont takes out his Pokéballs. "Alright everyone, return." With that, all of Clemont's Pokémon, except for Dedenne, have been recalled.

Serena did the same thing with her own Pokémon, before turning to Ash's Pokémon. "Don't worry, guys," she said. "We brought Ash's backpack down here with us in case he was gonna come down and eat. But, after _that_ ," she didn't want to say it. "Ash isn't going to come down for a while, so we'll call all of you out when he does."

They all, minus Pikachu, nodded. While a part of them wishes they could have done more for their trainer, they knew that this is something for Ash to figure out on his own. So, one by one, the Pokémon are recalled into their Pokéballs by their trainer's friend. It kept going until it reached the Ninja Pokémon. Greninja was peacefully waiting to be recalled.

 _Greninja!_

Greninja's eyes popped open when they were previous closed. Was that-?

 _Greninja!_

Before the children could even blink, Greninja is already charging up the stairs faster than the speed of light.

"Greninja?!" Dumbfounded by the Pokémon's strange behavior, the three of them hurried right after him, followed by the unrecalled Pokémon. However, it might take a certain genius a while to get up those stairs.

* * *

 _Greninja, help!_ Ash continues to beg inside his mind while he continues to try and fight off the pressure that's keeping him down on the bed. He wasn't sure if the Ninja Pokémon was getting the message across, so he kept on calling out. The pressure is now beyond unbearable and he couldn't take it anymore. _Please, help-!_

A breath of cold air made Ash ceased his struggle. His blood freezes when he recognized where he felt this familiar chillness before. It was in the hallway before he and Serena got into that fight.

Thankfully, Ash's pupils weren't frozen like the rest of his body so he was able to move them around despite his head's stillness. However, he almost wished he couldn't move them once he sees the source of the chill.

A black mist, the same black mist that tried to do, whatever it wanted to do with him, is standing over him on the right side of his bed like a menacing killer enjoying the suffering of their victims before plunging a knife at them. Ash's heart instantly drops the moment he lay eyes on it, a familiar feeling of dread is now flooding his insides once again. Why is it here, now? Did it want to choke him like all those ghost girls? But even if it did, why would it want too? It's not even one of the marked victims, as far as he could tell. So why would-?

Ash couldn't think further as the black mist floats over him, shrouding his vision in a complete blanket of darkness.

* * *

The three of them couldn't understand why the Ninja Pokémon left in such a hurry. One minute he was peacefully awaiting his recall, then he's now running down the halls like his life depended on it. They were beginning to wonder if something happened when they noticed the direction Greninja is going. He's heading straight for Ash's room.

Greninja didn't know what had happened. Ash sounded completely desperate calling out to him, not to mention he sounded like he was in an immense amount of pain. He didn't know what was happening, but knowing that his trainer is in pain is enough to tell him that he's in serious trouble. Greninja could already see the door in his sights but stops in cold sweat once he fully realized what he just saw.

The children found themselves stopping when they see the Ninja Pokémon ceased his run as if something has paralyzed him. While Clemont took this moment to collapse onto the ground to catch his breath, the girls took the moment to talk to Greninja. "Greninja, why did you-?"

Serena cut herself off when her eyes trail off to why Greninja is staring at the door, her blood freezing along with every fiber of her being. Noticing their friend freezing, the siblings and Pokémon took a look at the thing themselves before their breaths hitch.

The door was wrapped in hundreds of strands of black string. Upon standing right beside Greninja, they realized with a sickening feeling that what's tangling door wasn't a hundred of strands of black string but a hundred of strands of black hair. The greasy shine from possibly old oil on the locks is what gave it away since not even string could shine like.

"I-Is that _hair?!_ " Bonnie trembled at the sickening sight as she grabs onto Serena's legs and moved her head away so she didn't have to look at the door anymore.

Clemont had eventually stood up again and his now right beside the girls. "I don't remember Ash's door being wrapped in hair the last time Bonnie and I were here!"

Before Serena could make her own comment, a noise from behind the door stopped her. They wait in silence so they could fully make out of what they were hearing. After a few moments, they could make out gurgling sounds that sound like someone is trying to suffocate someone else. But the only person that they know is in there is Ash, then that would mean...

"Ash!" Forgetting about everything that happened, Serena let her concern for Ash's wellbeing take over and she charged straight at the door. Serena believed that the force from her collision would somehow break apart the ancient locks around the door, but she only ended up slamming her arm against with it doing nothing.

Serena winced when she felt her arm burn from doing all of that, but she ignored it as she cradles her arm and steps back. "It's bolted shut!"

"Could we try ripping it off?" Bonnie asked.

"Bonnie, there has to be at least a hundred of hair on that door!" Clemont shouts at her in a near-panic tone. "Even if we did, we probably won't make it to Ash in time!"

Before the humans could say anything else, Greninja and Pikachu each took a step towards the door with determined faces. Seeing that they're planning something, the children took a few steps back to avoid getting hit by the attacks. When Greninja's arm began to glow and Pikachu's tail began to turn to iron, the instantly recognized them as Cut and Iron Tail. Together, the two Pokémon brought their attacks down on the door.

Hundreds of black hair came falling down on the ground like feathers. It would have been beautiful if it weren't for the situation they were in.

"Thanks, you two!" Serena gives them a quick moment of gratitude before she heads over to the door and yanks it open. She immediately runs into the room. "Ash-!"

Serena stopped in her tracks. It wasn't because of the pieces of glass that are getting into her foot on the ground. It wasn't the entire state of the room that got her attention, either.

On the messy beds, there was no one upon it. She could see some tiny black splotches on the pillow, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She kept her gaze on the body print against the bed, indicating that someone was previously on the bed before something happened. The only person that she could think that was on the bed was the boy she hurt most.

Ash was gone.

* * *

 **Merry Christmas or have a good day everyone!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hey guys, finally managed to finish that other chapter on DeviantArt and my friend is very suspicious about me. Now, I know I left a terrible cliffhanger in the last chapter but I promise you that all will be reveal in due time! You'll just have to wait with more agonizing cliffhangers up ahead. ;) Also, just in case, Happy New Year or have a good day to all of you!**

 **Juster of Riva: XD Well, I guess you'll find out why they can't call for a Witcher in this chapter.**

 **thor94: Don't worry, you'll find out what happened to Ash soon. And there will be an Ash POV soon, just not in the way you would imagine it.**

* * *

They left Serena alone in the hallway. After watching her breakdown the moment she saw the empty bed, Bonnie led the older girl out into the hallway and let her up against the wall. While she stared at the broken honey-blonde girl who was sobbing until she made noises that were not recognizable, Bonnie stood up and went back to the room. She really wanted to provide some sort of support for Serena since she viewed the girl as the older sister she never had. But even someone with a young mind like hers could understand that this is something Serena needs to be alone on, especially after what happened a little while ago.

When she walked into the room, she could already see her brother on his knees in front of the bed, Pikachu, and Greninja right beside him. Thanks to the two Pokémon, the humans didn't have to worried about stepping into sharp pieces like how Serena did when she ran in here moments ago. While it did leave them with a foreboding feeling of what Ash's mental state was like before he disappeared, the siblings didn't have time to ponder on it for long since they have more pressing matters to take into account.

Bonnie hopped down beside her brother, being careful to not touching anything in case she messed something up. "So, did you find anything?"

Clemont shook his head, making her mood drop slightly. "I'm not a hundred percent sure about what happened, Bonnie." He explained, his hands dancing across the sheets carefully. "It looked like Ash was alone in his room before he disappeared since the markings on this bed indicated that there was one person on it, but it doesn't make any sense. I know what I heard, it sounded like Ash was being strangled for a while. I could understand that Ash was in the middle of trying to heal his mind, but even you know he would have put up at least a fight if someone was attacking him. It didn't even look like he was at all!

"And look at this," Clemont brought a pillow over to them and hold it out so Bonnie could see. Sure enough, the black stains are still present around the sunken down area where she believed Ash's head was resting against. "This isn't even a substance I recognize. If this is the liquid the attacker used to try to choke Ash with while making sure he was pinned down enough that he couldn't move, I'm sure we would have seen another print on this bed."

"So, Ash was attacked, but he was also alone at the same time." Bonnie summarized. "Whoever attacked him was trying to choke him with this gross juice while making sure he couldn't move. But when they probably heard us, they left while taking Ash with them." She then shoots her brother a confused look. "But who would try to do something like this?"

Clemont puts the pillow back down on the bed, unable to answer that question. He didn't even know how to answer it. He wanted to say somebody like Team Rocket or those Team Flare folks they'd encounter a little while ago. Then again, Team Rocket didn't make sure that glass container that's supposed to contain Pokémon is also to be made sure that it isn't vulnerable to physical attacks as well. He didn't know what to make of Team Flare, but a part of him knew that they just viewed them as annoying kids. They wouldn't be so annoyed to actually come after them and-?

He decided to go with the answer that's been plaguing him since the moment he figured out Ash wasn't trying to kill himself in the closet. "Maybe it was the one who tried hanging him in the closet? I guess it would make sense since this person's tactic is strangling their victims."

Bonnie looked like she was willing to take that as her answer before a wave of realization washed over her blue eyes. Like a flip of a switch, his sister's eyes are now showing a fear that he would only see when she had nightmares. She turned to him with her little fists trembling slightly. "Clemont, didn't Ash said he was attacked by a girl with no arms in the kitchen?"

It took him a moment to fully processed his sister's words. His eyes slowly widen in horror once he realized what she meant. "A-And his description almost sounded like she was bleeding... N-Not to mention one of the marked victims' death was caused by illegal amputation on her arms. So, that girl that attacked Ash in the pantry, was the same girl that died here..."

He didn't need words to tell Bonnie what that actually meant. The girl gulped and scooted closer to her brother, wrapping her frail arms around his waist. Even the Pokémon looked incredibly disturbed by this since Pikachu's cheeks are sparking unintentionally and Greninja is tightening his fist at the thought of what could have possibly kidnapped their trainer and what they're probably doing to him as they speak. On second thought, the didn't want to think about it. Because they wouldn't like the things they're seeing.

A wave of silence washed over them. The only sounds that could be heard are the heart-retching weeping within the hallway outside the room. Nobody wanted to say anything because of the new fear that's flowing through them.

Finally, someone broke the silence. "Clemont, we're really not alone in this house, are we?"

Clemont just wraps his arm around her tighter. "Yes, Bonnie. We're not alone... Just not in the way we thought we were..."

* * *

They didn't know how they were going to explain things to Serena. After her fight with Ash and realizing he's been kidnapped right when she was on the other side of the door, they knew that the guilt she's feeling right now is like an overflow of water in the sink. For a moment, they consider about not telling the girl at all so she wouldn't have to experience more grief than she is. Then again, they knew they have to tell her the truth. Not telling her would only make things worse and Serena might end up in a state that's similar to Ash's a while ago.

So when they saw Serena still up against the wall, sniffing softly against her hands, they knew what their decision was.

Bonnie bent down to older girl's level, her blue eyes full of concern for Serena's wellbeing. "Serena, are you okay?"

"...I was right outside..." came the girl's first response in an above-whisper voice. The siblings didn't say anything as they waited to hear Serena out. "He was just behind the door... I thought we had enough time to save him..." She finally seemed to let the damp loose as she resumed her sobbing. The sight almost made them reconsider telling Serena the truth about the Lewis Manor.

Bringing herself together, Bonnie gently puts a hand on Serena's trembling shoulder. "Don't worry, Serena. I'm sure we'll find him."

"But what if we don't?!" Bonnie jerks her hand away when Serena suddenly looks up at her with eyes that showed nothing but a blank look of exhaustion. "What if we don't ever find him?! This place is like a maze, Bonnie! We'll probably never find him alive in time! That lunatic who tried to hang him a while ago is very likely killing him right now while we're just standing here," she sniffed to pause. "A-And, the last thing I said to him was that he's the reason why his father left when he was just a baby... Ash is going to die knowing I said that to him!"

Unable to handle all this stress, Serena put her head back down. She wasn't sobbing anymore, her body was too exhausted for that. The only thing that they could hear from her are the sounds of her ragged breath, a possible way her brain is using to calm herself down. But even then, the marks are still there and they won't be living anytime soon.

Clemont almost decided to forget about all the things he's planned on telling when he took a moment to recall Serena's words. The Lunatic. She still thinks that there's a madman on the loose. Knowing that he couldn't lead her on, making her flinch at every single sound that could be a possible psycho that's gonna come after them, Clemont realized he had to tell her the truth and not some white lie. No, that would be cruel.

Knowing what he must do, Clemont bent down on his knees so he was on the same eye level as his friend. "Serena, did you by any chance heard Bonnie and I scream in the hallway when we were looking for Ash?"

Serena looked up. Her blue eyes that were once full of life are now staring at him with a dull sense of confusion. "...What does that get to do with anything?" She eventually said, her voice seemly tired. Not that he could blame her, though. He's tired just as much.

They began to explain everything, from what the siblings saw in the closet and their theory about who could have kidnapped Ash. There were occasional comments from Bonnie like "I didn't even know skin could change color like that" and "...Or people dying from having their arms removed like chopped meat..." The whole time, Serena had kept a natural expression through the whole gruesome explanations. The only time where she had a real, frightful reaction is when they mentioned possible suspect to Ash's disappearance and how they explained about Ash's claims that an armless woman in the kitchen was true.

After that, the siblings waited for their friend's response to all of this. When she didn't say anything for a while they began to worry. "Serena?" Clemont eventually asked. "Are you okay?"

"...I thought that this was all a prank..." She whispered out, giving them slight relief to know that she's responding to them. "That Ash was just messing with us... I didn't know what was happening. Oh my goodness, he must have felt so alone when we didn't believe him!"

Clemont could feel himself frowning. He knows that feeling very well. "We all should've believed him, Serena. But we didn't..."

They sat in silence afterward. The eerie silence within hallway left them a new vibe. Before it sounded like things were too quiet and something that they don't know will pop out at them at any moment. Now they have an idea of what they're up against, but that thought still didn't make them feel any braver.

* * *

It took them a while to finally figure out their next move. They had originally wanted to explore the house in hopes hat they would eventually find Ash, alive and hopefully not dead. But then they realized how much of a waste that would be to go looking for him themselves. This place feels like a gigantic maze, full of twists and turns, so they had no idea on where to go first. Not to mention they weren't fully aware of what kind of supernatural forces they're dealing with.

They eventually decided to call for help. They couldn't find Ash in the numbers they were in, and they didn't want to risk the Pokémon going up against something that could possibly kill them. Remembering the horrible storm outside, Serena had taken out Talonflame's Pokéball. While they knew they couldn't walk through the storm without freezing to death, Talonflame could be able to make it by its Flamebody ability, so it could hopefully reach the last town they were at in time while they stay and hopefully start the search for Ash themselves.

What they didn't suspect when they got to the entrance was that the doors were bolted shut.

"...Come on!" Bonnie groans, she and Clemont on one side of the door while Serena and Greninja were on the other. They were all gripping the handles tightly and were trying to the get the doors to budge. However, it was shut tight like someone had intentionally put glue on the sides and left it there for a while.

When it became clear that they weren't making any sort of progress, Clemont gave up. He let his grip on the handle loose. "It's no good, these doors are locked from the outside!" Eventually following after the genius, the girls and Pokémon had let go of the door with sadden eyes.

"Why won't it open?" Bonnie asked in frustration, stomping her foot for emphasis on her mood. Clemont took a closer look at the doors, adjusting his glasses a bit so he could inspect the doors clearer. It didn't make sense for the doors to be locked, they didn't even have a key for this place so it couldn't have been one of them.

Serena finally speaks up after a small moment of silence. "You don't think, the spirits here locked us in here? Do you?"

"Well, by the looks of things, I would guess so," Clemont comments as he turns to look at her. "Whatever they wanted, they wanted to make sure Ash didn't leave from all the horrible things he was seeing. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised if they would do something like this if Ash were to finally snap and try to run out without any of us knowing."

Although they were unintentional, Clemont's words brought back the guilt they all felt about not believing Ash. Looking back when he first came to them after his terrifying experience in the kitchen, they quickly denied his claims of supernatural forces when they didn't found any evidence instead of actually being a little suspicious. Maybe if they had believed him, Ash wouldn't have been so closed off from them and he wouldn't have to keep going off on his own. But they knew they couldn't change the past.

Especially Serena. No matter how much she wants to, she knew that she can't change what she said and will have to live with what she'd said to Ash for the rest of her life. Even when she finds Ash and tries to apologize, it wouldn't make a difference. Things aren't going to be the same between and that thought frightened Serena. She didn't want things to be complicated between her and the boy she loves, even though she was clearly at fault for mentioning the one thing that could make Ash hold a grudge against anybody, even her. Somehow, she _will_ make this up to him.

After a bit, Clemont finally broke the silence. "I think we should go look for him ourselves. We can't call for help if the doors are locked with no way of us getting out."

The girls nodded in agreement. The Pokémon didn't make any movements, but their eyes showed that they're willing to follow. They eventually moved away from the door and began to make their way down the entrance hall so they could get back to the living room.

For some reason, the ancient hallways felt longer when they first walked down it when they had arrived at the Lewis Manor. Even the lighting from the lights held a creepy atmosphere to the hall, but they couldn't decide if it was just their imagination or if the ghosts of the houses are finally deciding to play with them like they did with Ash.

"Hey... Everyone who died here came back as spirits, right?" Bonnie asked, hopefully, to get their minds off the creepy hallway they're walking down.

However, the two older children's fear didn't waver from Bonnie's question. Instead, it only increased since they had an idea of where this conversation could go.

"So, if all those girls who died are still around... Doesn't that mean the murderer is here? I mean, nobody died for the last fifty years... So I guess the murderer died too... Do you think the murderer might have been the one that kidnapped Ash?"

It wasn't how they thought the conversation was gonna go, but it still made them feel uneasy. To know that the mastermind behind of all the killings in the Lewis Manor has their best friend wasn't exactly a settling thought. They didn't answer her, but Bonnie knew she went a little far by playing with their fears so she kept her mouth shut for the rest of the way.

It was only when the floorboard's incessant squeaking became unbearable that Bonnie finally complained! "GAH! Why does this floor have to be so loud?! I get that it's old, but this is ridiculous!" To emphasize her point, Bonnie stomped her foot down on the old thing. There was a vociferous groaning that lasted for a few seconds.

"Bonnie!" Clemont scolds. "This place is probably a hundred-fifty-years-old, so that means floorboard is unstable and it could collapse right under us at any moment!"

Bonnie just shoots her brother an unamused look. "Clemont, I think you're overreacting. If the floor really was gonna break on us, don't you think it wouldn't have done so by now?"

 _CREAK!_

That loud groan made Clemont stop from lecturing his sister and look down on the floor with everyone else. This time, the groan didn't stop. It only got louder and louder. Did Bonnie just-?

Before they could react, the floorboard collapsed right underneath Serena and Pikachu. Everything happened so fast they didn't know how to react at first. Only when she realized that her feet were no longer on the ground and gravity was dragging her down into the dark abyss below, Serena let out her scream.

"Serena!"

In a desperate attempt to save her, Clemont reached for her hand that was rising from gravity's sudden hold on Serena. He couldn't grab her, however. His hand had only missed hers by a couple of inches. In their shock, the siblings and Ninja Pokémon could only stare in horror as they watch their two friends fall all the way down the endless black hole that's swallowing them up. Their screams echoed the whole way down, even when they were out of their sights.

* * *

 **I think I'm starting to like torturing you guys with cliffhangers. :)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I'm back with another chapter! I finally finished that other chapter and now I can get the chance to post this one. Now, I know we all want answers. What happened to Ash? Did Serena and Pikachu survive the fall? Why are all the spirits going after Ash? They will be answer, in due time. But good news, one of those questions will be answered in this chapter!**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: Once again, interesting theory. I'll just say that you're right about one of those and that Greninja does play some sort of role in this, but it won't be for long. Let's see how your theories go in this chapter. ;)**

 **Juster of Riva: Outlast 2? I've seen the first one but I haven't seen the second one, yet. Or, at least the demo version. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Trinity Sparks: Uh, thanks again?**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: You should probably get your heartstrings for all the scenes I'm planning.**

* * *

Their father had always told them to "never be afraid of the dark." The dark was a place to blind you from all the goodness in the world. It makes you worry about all the things that aren't really there. For years, Clemont and Bonnie have tried to take his words to heart. But it was difficult. Though she has no problem with scary stuff, Bonnie will always get worried about something creeping inside her room and take her away into the darkness. Even Clemont still has that same fear when he was at the point where he didn't need a nightlight anymore. Children have excessive imagination, even at the age of a toddler, so they can't always control it. Still, however, the Lumiose siblings did their best to not be that afraid of the dark.

But after seeing their two friends being swallowed up in a hole that shows nothing but complete blackness, their fears of the dark had returned. They didn't know if they even survived that fall. It sounded like it went a long way if Serena and Pikachu's screams were still present for a few more seconds before they disappeared completely. Maybe they had stopped falling a while ago and the hole was just echoing their screams. They didn't know and it scared them. One thing that they knew for sure, that hole was too far deep for them to see anything.

If they couldn't see anything, then that could mean that the chances of Serena and Pikachu surviving are-

They shook their heads. They shouldn't be thinking about horrible things like that. If there really was a bottom to that hole, then that would mean there's a lower level underneath this mansion. Maybe if they could find a stairway that leads to somewhere down, then they could find Serena and Pikachu. Or, at least, their bodies...

Bringing themselves back to their feet, the siblings turned their attention towards Greninja, who had not moved since he saw his two friends fall to possibly their deaths. They were worried for the Ninja Pokémon for a moment before he finally made a reaction. He closed his eyes and tighten his fist. First, he couldn't save his trainer and now he couldn't even save his friends. Why couldn't he be strong enough?

The siblings gave him sympathetic eyes. While they understood his grieving state, they also knew that Greninja couldn't have done anything in time once they had gathered their bearings. If Clemont couldn't have reached Serena in time when his senses got together, they couldn't imagine Greninja being capable of doing it on time.

"Don't blame yourself, Greninja," Clemont told the Pokémon gently. "We all didn't react on time, it was all of our faults."

Greninja nods in understanding, but he still kept his eyes close. Knowing that Greninja will continue to blame himself for this for a little while, Clemont sighed and turned to his sister. "Well, I guess we should start looking for Ash _and_ Serena and Pikachu."

Bonnie nods, grabbing the sulking Pokémon's arms and begins to lead him away from the hole, Clemont following behind. All they have to do is find a stairwell that probably leads to some lower level of the mansion, where they can hopefully find Serena and Pikachu. Maybe they could even find Ash while they're at it.

What they're really hoping for is that they don't see any of the violent spirits that are plaguing this place.

* * *

The first thing that Serena registered when her perception came back was the searing agony that's coursing through her leg. The pain felt like a hot steel wire that's been jabbed into her ankle and is spreading from there to up her leg, then finally up to her hip. It was the type of pain that would make her cry as a child when she got bucked off of Rhyhorn. When she noticed hot tears staining her cheeks, burning against her cold skin, she did feel like a little girl.

It finally dawned on her that she had just broken her ankle. She must have landed on it hard after falling from that great height. Suddenly, the world narrowed down to just her, her ankle, and the agony. She almost blacked out.

Serena shook her head. She couldn't go into shock. She tried to breathe more slowly. She lay as still as possible until the pain receded from horrible stinging to just an annoying throb. While it hurt, at least she could handle it for now.

Planting her hands on the dirty ground, Serena uses this chance to lift herself up - while being extremely mindful of her ankle since the pain flared up when she moves too fast. She took a look around. The entire area was dark, there was a light in the distance but it hardly did her any good. Feeling the familiar feeling of the ground with no grass, Serena assumed it was an underground tunnel of some kind. Her hands were probably covered in dirt due to the ground that showed some signs of how people had dug this tunnel. Maybe this was a shelter for hazardous weather back then. She couldn't imagine how people would find solitude in here, it was too quiet.

She sighed. At least she had Pikachu with her.

Her eyes slowly widen when she didn't see any sign of the Mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu!" She calls out, internally wincing at how sore her voice must be from all that screaming. "Pikachu, where are you?! Are you okay?!"

Nothing. Total silence met her. She was alone inside this dark tunnel, in a place where violent spirits roam free.

Unconsciously gasping, Serena idly wraps her arms around herself. For some reason, she felt cold. The darkness of the tunnel provided her with no warmth. The darkness seemed to be luring her into its cold den, trying to make her unaware of the malice behind it all. But she knew, she just couldn't do anything about it since she was immobilized.

She considered trying to call out for Bonnie and Clemont but decided against it. If Pikachu couldn't hear her even though he fell down the same hole as her, she couldn't imagine how things are gonna go with the siblings. She really was alone.

The first thing that Serena tried to do after a few seconds of waiting in the dark was standing up. However, the pain in her ankle flared up she moved it, making her cry out. After a few deep breaths, Serena tried again by placing her hand on the wall. It gave her enough support to tolerate the pain as she lifts herself up, her broken ankle above the ground while her good leg remains where it was. Thankfully, she didn't topple over due to leaning against the wall for support. She took this has her chance to look at her ankle. It didn't appear to be too strangely bent. There wasn't any blood anywhere. She could still feel her toes. Guess that's a good sign.

After taking deep breaths, Serena mentally prepared herself for the journey ahead. There was no way she's going to wait around for some angry ghost to come and find her. Knowing Ash, he wouldn't go down without a fight. Same thing for her. But she knew it will be difficult journey due to their broken ankle. She will have to hop the whole way through the tunnels, which isn't exactly easy if she moves too fast. She didn't even want to know how she's going to get up stairs with her ankle like this.

Then again, it wasn't like she could do anything about it for right now. She didn't have any ice. The only clothes she has on her right now are her nightgown and red robe, but she hardly paid attention to her mother when she would make splints for her arms and legs after getting bucked off of Rhyhorn. The only option she really has for right now is to find a way out of this tunnel.

With a determined expression, Serena was on her way.

* * *

Things were more difficult than she expected. She didn't know how long she was hoping, but she knew she was hardly going anywhere because of the way she was going. For every bounce that she did, the pain in her ankle flared up. She had no choice but to inch her way through the tunnel. By the time she reached the lit torch on the wall, which was the light source she saw a while back, she was already out of breath.

She couldn't keep this up forever.

But she still tried.

Stopping below the torch to catch her breath, Serena looked at the darkness and front of her and couldn't see anything else. There was no distant light, so that means she will have to continue to go across the darkness alone without any sort of light source until she reaches another torch. She didn't want to risk taking a fork in the path in the dark.

Placing the hand that wasn't against the wall before on ground wall, Serena lifted her other hand up to the torch. Since this was the only light she had, she's gonna have to make it work. Luckily, the torch was easily pried off its holder. She figured it might have been stuck since it was placed there for so long, so she was surprised at how it came off with no problem. Maybe luck was finally on her side.

At least, she thought so. That was before she used the light to see the path in front, only to find a figure lifting a wooden beam over their head and bringing it down onto hers.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Serena shrieks when the beam misses her face by a few inches. Good news, her shock made her lose her balance and topple over to the ground, torch still in hand. Bad news, her sudden movements made the pain in her ankle flare up. It felt like somebody had just placed her skin on a hot tray. Her ankle even felt like it was sizzling from the imagine heat.

Noticing a pair of feet moving out of the corner of her eyes, Serena could definitely tell that the thing attacking her was human and not just some angry spirit. How was there another human with them? She would have been pretty sure that she could've heard the doors open inside the mansion since it was abandoned - even the Pokémon could've probably heard them.

She didn't have time to think about it more when she saw the figure's shadow lift the wooden beam over their head, ready to make another attempt to hit her on the head. Thinking quickly, Serena readjusted her grip on the torch and shoved it at the person above. She didn't bring it close to enough to burn them - she would never burn someone alive - but close enough to get the message across. She was surprised when she saw amber eyes staring at her from the torch's light.

"A-Ash?!"

Ash, who has the wooden beam raised over his head to knock somebody out, quickly realize who that he was just about to hit over the head. His eyes slowly widen in horror before he dropped the beam onto the ground. "Serena?! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't hit you or anything, did I?"

It happened so fast, Serena didn't even have time to fully process it. A while ago, she thought that the next time Ash saw her it would have been a cold greeting. He would ignore her and wouldn't want anything to do with her ever again. But here he was, on his knees in front of her. He had his hands on her shoulders while he looked her over. It was amazing how Ash would still help her even after all the horrible things she had done to him.

Her thoughts then turn to all the terrible things she had said to him. How she had thought that all the horrible things that were happening to him were just a sick prank on his part. How she refused to believe him in everything that he said. How she brought up his father in most horrible way possible...

"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you just fell through a hole. Wait, what the heck happened to your ankle?! Did you sprain it? Why did you try to hop around when you didn't have a-?"

She cut him off by suddenly lunging herself at him. Her arms quickly entangle themselves around his waist, squeezing him tight against her as if she was afraid of him disappearing right before her eyes once again. It was then she let her sobs loose on his shoulder.

"S-Serena?!" She heard the surprised tone in his voice. He probably didn't suspect her to show this much remorse for all the things she had done.

"I'm sorry!" Serena screams, her sobs still loud and fresh like her current wounded heart. "I'm so sorry for all the horrible things that I said! They were terrible and cruel and I had no reason at all to say them! I'm sorry that I didn't believe you! I'm sorry for everything!" She broke into another fit sobs onto his shoulder.

He was silent afterward. She didn't hear him make a single sound at all, but it was probably because her sobs were almost deafening and she couldn't hear anything else. She waited for him to rebuff her and say some of his own horrible things back. It was what she deserved for everything she had done to him.

She didn't expect him to wrap his arms around her in return of the death-crushing hug she was giving him. What he said next made her completely speechless.

"Wait, is that why you're so messed up over?" His voice had that little laugh tone to it. That only happened when somebody did something that might've upset or anger Ash, but the raven-haired would laugh it off like it was nothing. To know that he was using that tone with her render her speechless. "Serena, come on. I could never stay mad at you. I forgave you a while ago."

He said it. It was only six words, but they left a bigger impact than anything has ever done to her before. Fresh, new tears were already pouring down her eyes as her sobs renew on his shoulder. She could hear Ash chuckle softly before he squeezed her tighter against him, giving the greatest comfort than anybody could ever offer her. He kept whispering, "Hey, it's okay... Let it all out, Serena... You're going to be okay" over and over again, his hand somehow finding her hair and rubbing it gently.

Deep down, Serena knew she wouldn't be okay.


	12. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Guess who's back with another chapter? Once again, sorry with all the cliffhangers that I've been putting lately. Sadly, you're only going to see more of those cliffhangers. Also, good news for me in the real world, I got community service hours! Wahoo! That means I'm starting to get a chance to graduate! Also, I see where are all suspicious from the last chapter, but it doesn't seem like we're suspicious for the right reasons. You'll see why soon enough.**

 **Juster of Riva: Oh, you have no idea. ;)**

 **thor94: *Laughs nervously* Believe me, there's a good reason why I did this. Besides, it wouldn't be fun if I reveal the plot so soon would it?**

 **UptownFunk: You'll find out in the next chapter.**

 **Pikachu: Uh, anyone got a PokéTranslator?**

 **OF: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Serena didn't say anything as Ash took out a piece of white cloth and began to wrap it around her bad ankle. She watched him do with such ease and a smile on his face. The same trademark smile he always uses when he's in a good mood. The last time she's seen him smile like that was the day they arrived at the Lewis Manor, right before he was attacked in the kitchen. Even though she's seen first hand that Ash has healed from his previous experiences, she was still in denial. There was no way Ash could be back to his usual self in such a short amount of time, even if this is Ash she's talking about.

Ash had suddenly stopped tending her ankle and look up at her with slight confusion. He probably noticed her staring at him. "Are you alright, Serena?"

"I..." She trailed off. She didn't know what she could say to him. She was afraid that whatever she might say could set him off and he wouldn't be the same ever again. "Ash, what happened when you were alone? We all heard you choking from behind the door."

Ash's eyes dawned with realization before he went back to work on her ankle. "Don't worry about it, Serena," he said gently, which was a good sign of him not snapping at her. "It was just one of those ghosts tried to attack me again and the next thing I knew, I woke up all alone here before I found you."

It sounded like a likely story. She knew Ash and he wouldn't lie about something like this, and she wouldn't let that happened again. But somewhere deep in her heart, Serena still couldn't believe him. She saw how the spark in his eyes fade away the moment those horrible words escape her mouth.

Thinking about the awful thing she said made her frown. "Ash, about what I said before, in the hallway I didn't-"

"Serena, come on." Ash once again had ceased his work on her ankle to look up at her with a disappointed frown. "I told you before, I forgive you for everything that happened. Besides, I said some of my own bad things to you, too. So, we're kind of even."

She could tell he was trying to make a joke out of all that, but her guilty conscious didn't make her laugh. So instead, she looked down on the ground. "But what I said-"

"Stop it, Serena." She shut her mouth when she saw Ash staring at her with a solemn expression, something that she's not used to seeing on his face. "Look, I'll admit, it hurt. A lot. But I knew I couldn't stay mad at you forever, not when we're trapped in this crazy place," he suddenly flashes her smile. "So, turn that frown upside down! You know it's not gonna get you anywhere."

In spite of herself, Serena couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Seeing her smile made Ash do one of his trademark grins before he went back to her ankle. It was amazing how Ash could pull himself together after everything that happened to him. This only made her affection for him to increase. So, why did she still feel like Ash was lying to her?

She didn't have time to think about that for long when Ash suddenly announced, "Done!" Serena looked down at her ankle, not expecting for him to be finished so soon. She has to admit it, Ash sure did knew what he was doing. The splint was perfectly wrapped against her ankle, even if a white cloth was all that Ash had. She wondered if Ash had ever gotten a broken ankle like this because she had no idea how he makes a cast like this. She barely felt any pain when she moved it a bit.

"Wow! Thank you, Ash!" The honey-blonde gave her raven-haired friend a grateful smile. "It hardly hurts anymore!"

Ash just gives her a bashful smile. "Come on, I'm not that great. I don't even have any ice so that the pain can fully go away." He stood up and offer his hand to her, giving her his usual smile. "Need any help?"

Serena was suddenly a child again. She had gotten lost in the woods with nobody around. She fell and hurt her leg, rendering her immobile. Then came the younger Ash through the bushes seemly out of nowhere. He wrapped up her ankle and offered her his hand. This is exactly like when they were kids. The feeling of Deja vu was too strong. Slowly, she reaches for his hand.

He then grabs her hand pulls her up. Only, he was a little more forceful than intended and she ended up right on him in a sort of awkward hug.

Why did her face felt so warm?

She almost didn't want to let go but she knew had too eventually. She pulled herself away to stare at those amber orbs that always made her heart soar. But, for some reason, her heart didn't soar. Why didn't it? This was Ash. In the back of her mind, she somehow knew that something was wrong. She was staring into his eyes, but she didn't get that familiar warm feeling. This is Ash, right?

"Uh... Is something wrong, Serena?"

All this time, she didn't realize that she was staring at Ash for a long time. Once she understood it, the heat instantly rose on her face. "S-Sorry!" Why did she have to embarrass herself like this?

Ash just flashes her a smile. "Hey, don't worry about it!" He looks down at her splint. "Do ya think you can walk on it?"

Serena looks down at her ankle, turning it slightly to inspect it. It didn't hurt when she moved it, maybe she could walk. Fate didn't seem to be on her side, however, when she put pressure on it. She winces slightly when the small throb slowly made its way back up to her hip. It didn't hurt as much anymore, but she knew it wouldn't be ideal to keep putting pressure on it. "I don't think so," she mumbled, her voice straining slightly.

She could see Ash frowning at that, something that she recognizes as his thinking-mode. The only time he does that is when he's strategizing for a battle. A smile then spreads across her face as he gently puts her arm around his shoulder, giving her more leverage so that she doesn't have to keep putting all her weight on her ankle.

"There, is that better?" He asked her.

Serena moved her hurt foot for a bit. She was surprised at how dull the pain was up to the point where she could hardly feel it. "Wow, it does!"

Ash gives her his trademark smile. "See, told ya!" He adjusted his grip on her. "Come on! I'm sure the others are already worried about us."

For some reason, Serena didn't nod her head. It was weird. Serena couldn't figure out why she felt so uneasy around Ash. It was like this weird part that's telling her she shouldn't be anywhere near him and bringing him to the others might be a very bad idea on her part. However, she just mistook as her guilty conscious reminding her how Ash deserved someone better than her for the way she yelled at him.

"Yeah, let's go..."

Ash continues to smile, not noticing how uncomfortable Serena was - she should have expected this from Ash, though - and began to lead her down the dark halls of this underground cavern. In the first few seconds of their walk Serena had finally noticed how icy cold Ash's skin was against hers.

* * *

Clemont sighs as he closed yet another dead end door. He, Bonnie, and Greninja have been looking through the doors on the right side of the hallway since they have already checked all the doors on the left side on the first time they went looking for Ash. Now, the stakes are little more higher and now they have to find their three missing friends.

But so far, they had no luck. All the doors that they had previously opened in hopes of finding a stairwell that leads to a lower level of the Lewis Manor proved to be of no help and Clemont was starting to lose hope. Serena was right, this place did feel like a gigantic maze. They have no idea where to go or have a single clue to where they're going.

"Any luck, Bonnie?" Despite the feeling of hopelessness, Clemont couldn't but asked his sister - who had just open another dead end door right across from him.

Bonnie shook her head as she closed the door. "No, nothing yet," she sighs and walks over to her older brother. "Clemont, do you think they're still alive?"

Clemont didn't know how to answer that. A part of him wanted to keep his sister's hopes up and tell her that their friends are still alive somewhere in this house. But reality struck of how unlikely it would be when it came to the Lewis Manor, a place known as the caused of many deaths over the years. It was very possible for Serena and Pikachu to not survive their fall since it was long drop. Ash... He didn't even want to imagine what type of death Ash could possibly have if the thing who kidnapped him really was the murderer that caused all of these deaths.

Before he could say anything, the familiar sounds of the Ninja Pokémon caught their attention - thankfully driving the conversation away from their possibly deceased friends. They turn to the source to see Greninja running up to them with a slight panic look in his eyes. This caused instant fear to run through their veins. Only one thought that went through their minds on the reason why the Ninja Pokémon would look like that and they didn't like the outcome.

However, as Greninja came closer, the siblings realized that he was carrying two objects within his arms. One of those things that Bonnie recognized was that book she found in the fireplace back in the living room. The other, they couldn't say. They definitely could tell it was a book, bigger than the one Bonnie found. But other than that, they couldn't tell why Greninja would bring that with him.

"Hey, that's my book!" Bonnie cried once Greninja reached them, her small, dainty hands reached out for the smaller book and took it out of the frog-like Pokémon's grasp. Clemont took a step forward while adjusting his glasses to take a closer look at the other book Greninja had within his arms.

"What have you got there, Greninja?"

The Ninja Pokémon quickly realized that he was still holding the book he had found in the library along with the book Bonnie had found and shoved right into the genius's hands in an instant. "Gre, Gre!"

Clemont stared at Greninja with a dumbfounded expression. Never before had he seen the Ninja Pokémon looking so terrified. He always thought of Greninja to be generally fearless and strongest amongst them all. Then again, he thought the same thing with Ash. The boy who always smiles and is very determined to reach his dreams. But after seeing his raven-haired breakdown during their stay at this place, Clemont realized that Ash is just as human as him. Which means he has limits. And this place went beyond those limits.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, Clemont looked down at the front cover as to find the reason why Greninja would bring this to him when his eyes froze once he read the title. His skin instantly turned pale as his eyes became clouded with fear. "O-Oh my goodness..."

"What is it, Clemont?" Bonnie asked, startled by the sudden look of fear in her brother's eyes. Clemont didn't say anything but he showed her the cover so that she could read it. Bonnie had to go on her tippy toes to get a better look. Her blue eyes then widen in fear once she realized what she was reading:

 _ **The Guide to Amputation**_

"Clemont..." Bonnie felt her words died in her throat. Her young mind couldn't fully process this. Thankfully, Clemont seemed to understood as he opened the book and began to flip through a few pages.

"It's like a whole manual on how to amputate a human body," he mumbles after a few pages, his eyes glue to the pictures of a bloody knife being pressed down on a badly infected leg or someone using a chainsaw to saw off a premature arm. "Guess this murderer wanted to make sure they knew what they were doing so when they did the amputation illegally, the body part wouldn't be badly infected right away."

Bonnie shuddered. "Please don't tell me that the murderer has this weird body fetish or something."

"Even if they did, it wouldn't have explained Maya and Thomas Lewis's deaths." Clemont points out, trying to keep his face natural to not explode on his sister and demanding her on where she heard that word from. He flips through a few more pages before stopping when he noticed shredded edges of paper sticking out.

"Huh, that's weird..."

"What is?" Bonnie asked, once again on her tippy toes to see what her brother is looking at.

"A few of these pages were ripped out," Clemont showed her the section before he turned it back to himself. "I wonder," he suddenly flipped back a few pages before he was on the first page. "Aha!"

Sensing his sister's confused expression, Clemont explains, "I was hoping that despite this Lewis Manor's old age, there will be a Table of Contents since this technically counts as an educational book and I was right! If I could look at the pages that were in between the ones that were ripped out, then we'll know what-"

He stopped abruptly. Bonnie was surprised at how Clemont instantly cut his own voice off like that. But the rising fear in his eyes worried her. His own hands were trembling so much that Bonnie thought the book would've ripped from all that pressure. Thankfully, it didn't. Still, Bonnie was wondering what could make Clemont look like he just saw Death in the face.

"Clemont? What does it say?"

When he still didn't answer her and stood still like a statue, she knew that she had to take this into her own hands. Going back on her tippy toes, Bonnie tries to look on the page where Clemont is staring death in the face. Her little blue eyes slowly widen in shock once she realized why her brother was staring at Death in the face.

 ** _Table of Contents_**

 _Infections caused by Amputation_

 _How to Mend Amputated Body Parts Together_

 _Best Tools for Amputation_

* * *

Serena did her best to show that she wasn't uncomfortable around Ash as the two continue to go down the underground cavern. While most people would suspect her uneasiness was the caused of her affection for the raven-haired boy and how embarrassingly close the two of them were would caused heat to rise in her cheeks. Normally, that would've been the case - if Serena was honest with herself - but it wasn't like that. At least, not for right now.

She didn't know why but for some reason the warning flags are going off in her head. _Get away from him_ , is what that tiny little voice kept telling her over and over again. A part of her wanted to do it, but she couldn't. She couldn't figure out why she felt this way about Ash. Really, this was _Ash_ for Pete's sake. He's the only person in the world that she knew would never hurt someone intentionally.

But feeling his cold skin against hers instantly told her that something was wrong. She knew that Ash's skin was supposed to be warm, like the type of warmth that someone would feel in a fireplace on a cold day - she may have watched him in his sleep sometimes and may have grabbed his hand a couple of times. Now, though, his skin was no longer warm. No, it was cold. A horrible, stinging feeling of bitter cold that could cause her frostbite if it was possible. It was like the blizzard from outside had taken a corporal form, which just so happened to be Ash.

Then again, maybe it was just her guilty conscious talking again. Telling her that she shouldn't be anywhere near him because of the horrible thing she had done. Yeah, maybe that's it. Her conscious just telling her that Ash doesn't deserve someone like her.

"Hey, Ash," to get her mind out of those guilty thoughts and hopefully stop the uncomfortable silence between them, Serena decided to bring up an important subject that she had almost forgotten about. "Did you, by any chance, see Pikachu down here before you found me?"

This makes Ash stop and turn to look at her with confusion written across his face. "No. I thought he was with the others upstairs?"

Serena shook her head. "He fell down the hole with me. When I woke up, he wasn't anywhere near me. I thought that he might've found you and you sent him off to find the others before you found me."

"Serena, you were the only person I saw when I woke up in this weird place. I think I would be pretty sure if I knew Pikachu was down here with us." Ash told her in a slightly stern tone but with a hint of confusion to where his best buddy could've gone.

Then a horrible though suddenly entered their heads. Since Pikachu fell down the floorboards with Serena, he would've stayed with her if he had woke up before her and watched over her until she woke up herself. But he wasn't there. Despite his natural creature curiosity, Pikachu wouldn't dare leave Serena alone in this horrible house of horrors. So if Pikachu didn't go on his own, then that would mean...

"We need to find him. Right now." Serena said in the most deadly serious tone she has ever used in her life.

"No need to tell me twice!" Ash quickly adjusted his grip on her and they were off once again. Only they were a little faster this time around. They had to keep a careful watch on Serena's ankle, though, since it hasn't fully recovered and caused more strain on it could lessen the speed recovery.

They thought that they would keep going into an endless hallway with nothing but darkness in their paths if they didn't noticed the fork in the road up ahead. In an instant, they knew that they reached a whole new level in this dusty place. The walls were no longer dirt that came from the results of digging through here. Right before them are black brick walls. While it may have cause more darkness to fill their vision, it gave them a bit a hope. This meant that they were at a certain level of the cellar where they could find stairs that can lead them to the upper level.

The only problem that they currently have right now is to find out which path could lead them straight to Pikachu and a couple of stairs instead of a slow, painful death at the hands of the angry spirits inside the Lewis Manor.

"Oh man, which way do we go?" Ash complained once he realized that they have to make a choice that could possibly determine their lives.

Serena sighs. Despite knowing it wouldn't be the best of ideas because of all the horror movies she and the others watched at the Pokémon Center, it was the only idea she had that could speed up their survival progress while possibly avoiding the spirits in time. Besides, it would finally put her mind to rest knowing that she was going to leave Ash's side for a bit.

"Ash, I think we should split up."

She didn't realize how fast he whipped his head towards her in utter bewilderment when she had almost lost her balance. Thankfully, Ash's grip on her prevented her from falling over on her bag leg.

"What?! Serena, are you sure that's a good idea?" Ash asked, bewilderment still evident in his voice but he was still polite about it. She didn't know if she should feel flattered for him not acting all overprotective on her and not fully disagreeing on her plan, or feel a little suspicious since he could possibly be acting.

Did she really have so little faith in him?

"Look, Ash, I know it probably isn't a good idea considering where we are," Serena acknowledged with a slight shudder. "But what choice do we have? We don't know the house well enough and we have to find Pikachu before someone else - that aren't alive, by the way - does. Splitting up is probably the best idea we have so far."

She looked at his face to see what his reaction was. He wasn't really looking at her, though. His eyes were gazed over, obviously thinking this over. Then why is his right eye twitching like he's in pain? And why is his grip on her suddenly tightening?

After a few seconds, he gave out a sigh as his grip on her loosens a bit. "Okay, I guess that's a good idea considering," he didn't finish his sentence, but Serena could already guess what he was inferring.

She didn't say anything as she slowly removes her arm from Ash's shoulders. However, she didn't suspect to be unbalanced the moment she no longer had any support. If it weren't for Ash quickly grabbing her arm, she probably would've fallen to the ground on her left side. Not her bad ankle, but it would hurt since she would've moved in unsuspectedly.

"Wait, Serena, what about your ankle? You know you're not supposed to put pressure on it." Ash told her, and she agreed. But she didn't have a cane on her and Ash left that wooden beam back where they found each other, and who knows how long they were walking for? She looked over to the right path. Seeing that there was a wall in between the two paths, a thought enters her mind.

"Ash, can you get me over to the right path? Near the wall?" She asked. Though he looked confused by this, Ash helped her anyway to the wall. Once she was close enough, she let go of Ash and leaned her good side against it.

She smiled once she felt no pain in her ankle and turned back to Ash. "See? I can just use the wall as my own support. You don't have to worry about me, Ash."

There was a flicker of doubt in his eyes, along with something else. Was that... Annoyance? But it was gone before she could fully progress it. "Alright... I guess that could work."

She did her best to be completely obvious at his sudden mood change that only lasted not even a second. "So, I go down this path and you could go down the other?"

"Yeah, okay," he said, though he sounded a bit doubtful and anxious.

"We'll meet back here if we find Pikachu or anything, okay?"

"Okay," with that, he went down the path. He was out of her sights.

And some part of her felt relieved by that.

* * *

Serena didn't know what to think as she made her way down the dark hall, her right arm up against the wall so that can hop on one leg with no problems. Why did she feel so uneasy around Ash? She, at first, thought it was because of her guilty conscious reminding her of what she done to him. But now, she realized there was something more going on. Her warning flags only pop up if her life was in danger. Maybe Ash was lying when he said he'd forgiven her and that he was secretly trying to find a way to get revenge on her.

She shook her head. This was Ash, for Pete's sake!

But then, was that really Ash?

There was some part of her that was saying that the Ash she was just with wasn't the Ash that she fell in love with. His skin was too cold to even be him. It was the skin of a dead person. But Ash couldn't be dead, right?

She tried not to dwell on that thought for long. She refused to believe that Ash could be dead. Not him. Anybody but him.

Thankfully, she didn't have to think about it for long because she saw a sight up ahead that brought instant relief for the first time since she discovered the horrors of the Lewis Manor.

Right in front of her on the wall that she was leaning against was a door. The door was black, like the cement walls, so she almost didn't see it unless she really looked at it. It stood over her by a couple of feet, indicating that whatever was behind that door could lead her to a stairwell or to a room. Whatever the case, she was willing to take the chance.

There was a flicker of gold across the door, but Serena didn't pay attention to it. Instead, she turned on her good heel and made a hopping dash back to where she had come from. Thoughts of escaping this dreadful place and reuniting with the others made her joyful.

Then there was the matter with Ash.

She decided that she's going to find Ash, get him to the others, and decide what they will do with him from then on. There was clearly something wrong with him and she intends to find out what that is. But she was afraid to go at it alone. If this really wasn't Ash, then it was possible that he could hurt her. _Strength in numbers_ , her mother once told her.

"Hey, Ash?" She called out once she reached the fork in the path. "Ash, can you hear me?" She hoped that the path he went down was as long as hers. Besides, they weren't separated for that long. She suspected he could probably still hear her if she raises her voice loud enough.

"Ash, I think I found something-!"

She cut herself off when she heard a noise in the left path. It sounded like someone was trying to vomit but they can't and only have to do horrible retching sounds because their stomach's contents refused to leave. If Serena and her friends were the only humans alive inside the Lewis Manor and the Lumiose siblings were back upstairs, then that would only the person who could be gagging was...

"Ash?" Serena called out. When the only response she got was another heaving retch, Serena quickly hopped down the left path. All thoughts of how strange her raven-haired crush has been acting instantly left her mind. "Ash?!"

She was kind of surprised at how her search for her friend was so short. But she didn't dwell on it for long once her cerulean blue eyes lay upon the boy she loves, who is on his knees with his hands keeping him up. His voice was still coming out as these horrible gagging sounds as he tries to empty his stomach's contents but his body won't let him.

"Ash!"

His whole body stiffens once he heard her voice. His whole body was trembling and his shoulders were terribly hunched. It was like he was in some internal, agonizing pain and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't figure out how to comfort him after the horrible thing she had said and now she didn't know how to comfort him when he's seem to be going through a pain that's within his body.

"S-Serena?" His voice came out strained. It brought memories of how he was nearly hanged to death earlier this morning and how she accused of him doing something like that.

Serena quickly dropped down beside him - ignoring how her ankle flared up since she accidently landed on it - and wrap her arms around his trembling form. Feeling him shake like there's an earthquake going on inside him made her tighten her grip on him.

"Ash, what is it? Talk to me, Ash! What's wrong?" She partially begged him. His eyes were clear in her vision and she was surprised to see a hint of fear in them.

Then he said something that completely caught her off guard.

"...h-help..."

Serena furrowed her eyebrows. What did he mean by that? Her question was then answered when she saw something up ahead of them. Something that made her cover her mouth in horror.

It was a corpse. A corpse that's currently being eaten away by maggots.

She gripped the trembling boy tighter. "Ash, I think we need to get out of here."

"H-Help me..." He whispered and she helped him stand up with him supporting her. They quickly hurried down the hall, away from the decaying corpse.

If Serena had looked back, she would've noticed the corpse disappearing into thin air.


	13. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: After having a really bad today, I decided to post this chapter since I finished the other one earlier this morning. Don't ask me what my day was about. Too tired to even mention it. Just enjoy the chapter.**

 **Juster of Rivia: I never had any of limbs amputated, if you're wondering. Eh, that's alright. I just hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: Really? Well, I'll let you know if you called it or not. And if you have anything to say, don't be afraid to PM me. If it's possible theories or ideas, you know I'll always mix the words to hide the real meaning.**

 **OF: Don't worry, you'll get answers in a few chapters.**

 **G'day to you sir: I appreciate you trying to help me improve my writing and the whole story line, but I just want to point out that all the decisions that were previously made in this story leads up to the plot that I have already planned out for quite some time. I know most of what happened previously probably didn't make any sense to you, but I thought of all the reasons for those decisions and they had made sense for me. I could go on with this, but right now I want to focus on my stories and getting them done. Thank you for the advice.**

* * *

Serena didn't know how long it was since they left that path and found themselves up against the door that she had found, but she didn't care at the moment. Not when she was holding a trembling and gagging Ash in her arms. He looked so vulnerable, afraid that all the horrors inside this house will come after him once again. Just feeling Ash's body shake underneath her fingers made the guilt within increase tenfold. Of course, Ash wouldn't be alright after everything that happened. He was just trying to be strong and do the right thing. This was Ash, always putting others before himself no matter what - although, she is slightly suspicious about one thing, but she will get to that later.

But then that corpse appeared and Ash couldn't keep up the brave façade anymore. Now, he's the same shivering mess when she first saw him in the hallway. Like the night when the Kitchen Incident happened. Thinking about how she didn't believe him when he was so vulnerable made her heart clenched. She wasn't going to make the same mistake. Not after what happened from the cause of that.

She patted his back when he began to cough, trying to ease some tension from his body. Goodness, is it possibly for someone to be so rigid? "It's alright, Ash," she tries to console him. "Let it all out... They're not gonna get to you again..."

After what seemed like forever, Ash's body finally relaxed. He went slack and Serena was caught nearly off guard by the sudden heavy weight. Despite his lean appearance and not eating anything since he got to this house, Serena still couldn't properly hold him. She supposed it has to be something do with Ash being physically stronger than all of them.

"You okay?" She asked him after he seemed to calm down and his eyes were open. Two amber orbs are staring off into the distance with a look that showed her that he was still in some sort of pain. Then there was this other thing. She couldn't quite describe it. But it didn't seem like him. The pain-filled eyes - no matter how awful they were to look at - was more like him. It was how she imagined Ash's overall attitude to be after everything he's gone through. But still, what did that other look mean?

She shook her head. She promised herself that would be better than that.

The raven-haired boy gave a weak sigh. "Yeah, I think I'll be..." He mumbled in a completely strained voice. It sounded like he was screaming bloody murder for about three minutes and now his throat was sore because of that. He slowly began to lift himself up, but his exhausted body prevented him from getting up at least a few inches. "Help me..."

Serena immediately wraps her arms around his shoulder and use what little strength she has left to prop his back up against the door, right next to her. She watched him take deep breaths to possibly calm his body's inner turmoil. He looked clearly focused on something, but Serena assumed he was trying to gather his bearings for her sake.

"Do you feel better now?" She asked after his breathing returned to normal.

He slowly nods, now looking at her straight in the eyes. "I think so," he suddenly gave her a bashful smile. "Guess I overdid it, huh?"

Serena tried to not let her uneasiness show as she gazed upon that didn't once remind her of the boy she loves. "Yeah... Try not to do it again, please?"

"I won't," he planted his hands on the ground and lifted himself off the ground before he stuck a hand out for her. "Need any help?"

She took his bandaged hand - trying her very best not to shiver from his cold skin - and allowed him to pull her up. She winced slightly when she put a little weight on her bad ankle so Ash put her around his shoulder to give her support. "Is that better?"

Serena gave him a nod but didn't say anything else before she remembered the door she had found before she reunited with Ash. "Hey, Ash, I forgot to mention that I found something in this hallway."

Ash looked over, his eyes shone with curiosity. "What did ya find?"

"A door. The one that we were leaning against, actually."

Ash didn't seem to realized that they were leaning against a door instead of a wall since he whipped his head behind to look at the black door that's towering over them. "Oh..."

Serena was surprised when she looked upon Ash's eyes. Once again, it looked like it was split between two sides. One side seemed like it didn't want to go through that door - she probably had an idea after everything he's seen inside this house - while the other... She couldn't quite identify it. It looked like he was struggling with something, but the reason was something that she couldn't figure. She almost didn't notice Ash's grip on her arm suddenly tightens to the point of a vice grip until the last second.

Before she could comment on it, Ash blinked and his grip loosened. "I guess it's our ticket out of here, huh?" He gave her his signature grin, but it didn't warm her heart like it usually did. It's so strange that she couldn't act normal - or, at least, her version of normal - around him. She knew the reason for Ash's sudden positive attitude, she shouldn't be suspicious of him anymore.

 _Or do I?_ she thought, but she let it slide as she gave him a smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ash hold his smile for a moment before he reached his free hand out to the door handle. He gave it a small tug and it opened without a single thought.

It wasn't a gateway to a stairwell, much to Serena's disappointment. Instead, they were inside a gigantic room. Serena would've mistaken it for a simple infirmary if she didn't notice the torture table known as the Rack in front of her.

She had never seen a rack up close. She remembered reading about it in a picture book that explains the _Middle Ages_. After reading about how the rack would cause joints to dislocate, she immediately closed that book and decided she would never read it again. But now she was completely glad for that book providing her that information, otherwise, she wouldn't know how to react when she saw the blood all over the wood.

"I think we just discovered where that murderer liked to torture their victims before killing them," she mumbled mostly to herself, but Ash heard her.

He shuddered. "Oh, jeez..."

Moving her eyes away from the table, Serena tried to look for a more peaceful sight in this room. Sadly, it looked like hope wasn't on her side when saw jars full of eyes and tongues on a few shelves. There were also a few drawers up against the walls, but other than that, there wasn't really anything else. Except for that door across from the, who's path is being blocked by that Rack.

"Where are we, anyway?" Serena asked as Ash let her go and move a few steps further. She was glad that her ankle wasn't hurting that much anywhere because she would have to be by Ash's side the whole time. And for once in her life ever since their time in Camp, Serena didn't want that.

"Some sort of lab?" Ash guessed, but something told Serena that he knew more than he's letting on. She didn't say anything as she took the chance to look around at the right side of the room. Ash's footsteps could be heard in this strange room so she could hear him going off to the left side.

Serena took this chance to look at the drawer that's closest to her. Maybe she could find some more clues to the ghosts inside this house and why they were torturing Ash. She opened the first drawer and was immediately caught off guard at what she saw within. There was a row of pieces of hair, all braided up and curled around. Serena assumed that these were from the Marked Girls and the murderer must've chopped off pieces of their hairs as a sort of prize.

"This guy sure did like to collect when he was murdering people," she mumbled as she closed the drawer before turning over to Ash, who was looking at a drawer from his side. "Did you find anything, Ash?"

"Just a bunch of rusty old weapons," hearing that made Serena's heart drop - oh, no - but she didn't dare say anything on that. "Whoever that murderer was, they seemed pretty OCD on making sure they got everything they need to kill someone."

Serena stood up wordlessly and continue her small journey around the room. If she didn't say anything, then she won't give herself away and Ash - or whoever this is - won't be suspicious. She tried to open the door that she saw earlier but found it locked. Well, there goes one escape plan.

Not like she could make it that far anyway. Her ankle was still broken. If she were to suddenly start moving all of sudden she could make her ankle worse and have no chance of escaping at all. Everything was so confusing ever since they went inside the Lewis Manor and she didn't know what to do anymore.

 _Tap. Tap._

Serena froze in her small steps and stares down at the rack with wide eyes. Did she just heard-?

 _Tap. Tap._

There it was again. After making sure Ash was still occupied with the drawer, Serena went down on her knees so that she was facing the dark cloth that's covering the bottom half of the Rack. With trembling hands, she lifted the cloth up straightaway.

She didn't suspect to find Pikachu trapped inside some sort of display case on the other side.

"Pikachu?!" Serena did her very best to lower her voice to above a whisper. If her thoughts on Ash were true, then she couldn't let him know about Pikachu for the mouse's safety.

The electric type never looked so happy to see her before. He placed his paws on the glass and was mouthing something, but she couldn't quite hear it. She assumed that the case was sound proof from the outside, so no one could hear his cries of help from a mile away.

"Pikachu, what happened? Who put you in here?" She decided to ask the most important question.

To her uttermost shock, Pikachu put his ears together to form some sort of bangs. There was only one person that she knew would have bangs like that, and he's currently looking over a drawer that's full of weapons.

She immediately unlocked the hatch that was keeping the display closed, but she didn't open it. Pikachu looked at her with curious eyes before he reaches his paw out to open the case himself.

"Don't open it yet," she told him quietly, and the Mouse Pokémon stopped. "I'll give you the signal when you can get out. I just need to check on something."

Pikachu stared at her for a moment. He finally nodded after a few seconds.

"Hey, Serena?"

Startled, Serena immediately threw the cloth back down and stood up - ignoring the way her ankle flared up at the sudden movement - to see a curious Ash looking at her from the other side of the Ash.

"What were you doing over there?" He asked as Serena slowly moved away from that position, silently hoping that Ash didn't know that she was talking to Pikachu.

"No reason," she said that a little quickly but she still kept up the appearance. "I thought I found something, but it turned out to be nothing." She tried to not let the way Ash narrowed his eyes get to her. If she didn't keep up her own appearance, then he will know that something's up.

Thankfully, he seemed to have let it go. "Uh, okay?" He shrugged his shoulders for a bit. "Anyway, I guess I could say the same for me - I couldn't find anything. Think we should start looking somewhere else?"

Serena couldn't will herself to speak so she just nods. She didn't even take Ash's offering hand as she walked past him, saying that her ankle doesn't hurt that much anymore. He dropped his hand limply as he followed her out of the room, his eyes fixed on her.

As soon as they were back out in the dark hallway, Serena began to think. She needed an escape route. If her thoughts were true, then she will need to find a way to run without damaging her ankle further. She tried looking around while making sure that Ash wasn't looking, hoping that there could be something that can help her and Pikachu escape.

A flicker of gold caught her eyes.

Slowly, Serena turned her head to the right and found something that sent relief down her veins.

It was an old elevator. She assumed servants must have used it to go between floors the fastest way if they couldn't find the stairs in time. The old thing still shined with gold, but Serena didn't care about that. Behind those rusted gates is her ticket out of here.

All she need to do is to make sure that her idea was right.

"Hey, Ash?" She asked, her voice cut through the awkward silence between them.

Ash turned to her, wondering what was going on when he saw that her eyes were fixed on the floor in front of her. "What is it, Serena?"

"Do you, remember what I said in the hallway? When we were fighting?" Those words were hard to say because they brought back the hateful memories and the horrible feeling of guilt, but she knew that she had to do this. If not for her sake, but for everyone's sake. Even Ash's, if some part of her intuition was correct.

Ash's eyes narrowed at those words. "This again?" He mumbled himself in exasperation before he addressed the girl in front of him. "Serena, for the last time, I told you I-"

"I'm asking you if you remember what I said or not," she cut him off sharply, her words making him reel back in slight shock. "Do you remember what I said to you?"

He was quiet after that. He seemed to be struggling with something, but she couldn't understand what. "I do..." Ash finally said.

"What did I say?"

"Serena, what is this about-?"

"What. Did. I. Say?"

Now he didn't say anything for a while. He looked like some part of him didn't want to talk about this, but she still kept her stern gaze fixed on him. The more he seemed like he wanted to stop talking about this, the more her suspicions were beginning to rise. She knew that her intuition was right, she just needs to get him to admit it and stop with the whole act.

"You told me I was the reason my father left me and Mom..." The way it came out was so small. It made him sound like a little boy waiting for his father to come home. Only he never did for ten whole years. If Serena wasn't so sure about her intuition, she would've stopped the whole conversation at that.

"Do you forgive me for saying that?" She decided to ask the most important question. The one question that could prove her theory right.

"Serena, I already told you-"

She went a bit closer to him, making him back up slightly when he saw the intensity in her eyes. "Look at me in the eyes and tell me that you forgive me for that horrible thing."

He was looking at her in the eyes. This strange blank look in his eyes. She knew that this wasn't the boy she fell in love with just by looking at his eyes. She knew that his next answer won't prove her otherwise.

But she still waited for him to answer.

He finally did. "I forgive you. But, Serena, what are you-?"

That was all the answer she needed.

She took a few steps back, trying to put some distance between the two of them when Ash tried to walk closer to her. "You're not Ash." She put it as simply as that.

Ash's eyes widen in shock when he heard that and he stopped any movements of coming toward her. She could've sworn one of his eyes were going off to the side without the other but she assumed she was just imagining things and kept her gaze fixed on the boy in front of her, waiting for him to respond to her statement.

Suddenly, he broke into a nervous grin. A small laugh escapes his lips as he reached out for her. "Ha, Serena, that's really funny-"

"Don't touch me!" She quickly shook his hands away, making him reel back in slight shock as his grin left his face. Serena glared at him, trying to get the message across to this person in front of her. "Stop trying to pretend that you're Ash! You may be good at playing his positive attitude, but I know you're not him!"

The Ash in front of her kept a straight face the whole time. "How do you know?" His voice was completely emotionless, probably trying to hide what he's feeling within.

"You told me that you forgive me for saying that you were the reason why your father left your family," she begins, her eyes never leaving him. "But I know Ash! He blames himself for his father leaving, even when it wasn't his fault," the look on his face as she thought about that time in the hallway came back in her mind, but she couldn't let it consume her, she will not show weakness in front of this imposter. "Him believing that was one thing, but to actually say that to his face is a whole other thing. He wouldn't forgive the person who said that, not so easily - at least! H-He wouldn't even forgive them that quickly even if they were his friends..."

 _He probably won't forgive you for years,_ a voice in the back of her mind spoke, but she ignored it.

"But you, you didn't even hesitate. If you were Ash, then you should've held back a bit! Because I know Ash would only say that he forgives you because that's just him, but he would never truly mean it with all pain he's going through. So stop pretending and tell me what have you done with the real Ash!"

A wave of silence washed over them. Serena kept her eyes on this imposter in front of her, waiting for him to either keep insisting that he's Ash or to reveal himself. But as the silence continues and his face remains emotionless, doubt began to make its way into her mind. What if this really was Ash? What if she was really talking to the boy she fell in love with and the only reason his eyes seemed different was because he was still angry at her? And now she might've just ruined any chances she has with him.

Then it happened.

His eyes rolled back into his head.

It wasn't like any other eye-rolling that people do to show the whites of their eyes. Normally, a person would have both of their eyes roll back in an upward position. However, with Ash, one eye did roll back in an upward position. But the other went off to the side, completely out of sync with the other as they both disappeared into his head through different places.

Serena took a step back in horror. Despite her intuition being right, she didn't suspect _this_ to happen!

Before she fully comprehend it, Ash lunged at her.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: "Did you miss me? Admit it, you miss me.." - A Gravity Falls reference that still haunts me everyday. I bet you all are wondering who that imposter is and where is the real Ash, but mark my words that the plot will be revealed! In due time...**

 **Trinity Sparks: Nah, I'm okay. If they don't like this story, it's fine with me. Besides, they could always click out.**

 **Juster of Riva: Don't worry, they're coming up. ;)**

* * *

She had no idea where he got the scissors from. Then again, she should probably have an idea. He was at the drawer full of sharp weapons that could kill someone if used correctly, so she shouldn't really be surprised if he took something out of it. But with everything happening so suddenly - the revelation of the imposter Ash in front of her and the horrible eye movement - and out of the blue, Serena almost didn't have time to process it until he was only a few inches away with the scissors high in the air to strike her.

When she finally regained her sense, Serena quickly used one hand to stop the hand that's holding the scissors from stabbing her in the eyes. She tried to use her other hand to grab it but Ash, or whoever it was, had used his free hand to grab hers. Thus, preventing her from doing anything else but do her best to keep the death toll up in the air and away from her face.

Despite the imposter not being Ash, Serena could tell that they were physically stronger than her because she could feel him struggling to bring the glinting death trap down on her. It was slow, but it was still making progress as it kept getting closer, inch by inch.

A cold feeling of fear crept up her veins once she realized that she's going to die. At the hands of someone looking like the boy she loves but completely hurt the last time she saw him. Even though seeing the whites of his eyes completely showed that this person is a complete monster and will have no regrets killing her, he still looked like Ash and the thought of Ash killing her was too much for her to handle.

She started to think. She had to find a way for her and Pikachu - who is still in the room and probably wondering what's going on - to escape him and warn the others. The elevator wasn't so far, but how can she get to it without risking getting stabbed if she let go?

Her gaze was drifted down to her feet, her good leg trying to give her all the support she needs to stop him. Then there's her bad leg, slightly throbbing but helping, nonetheless.

This was probably going to hurt a lot.

She drew her bad leg up until she believed it was high enough and kicked her attacker straight in the stomach.

Two voices shout in pain entered as they both stumble away from one another. Serena gripped her ankle tightly as she felt a hot, searing pain coursed through her leg and up to her hip. She almost considered giving out but, thankfully, she used the wall next to her to give her support as she tried to calm herself down. Okay, maybe it was a very bad idea to put a lot of pressure on her bad leg to kick the imposter away from her. But it wasn't like she had any other options. If she did use her good leg, it still would've hurt either way.

After calming herself down, Serena looked up when she heard moans in front of her. Apparently, she kicked harder him than she though and was up against the same wall, his arms wrapped securely around his stomach as he took deep breaths. Then he started to heave. What was going on?

But she didn't have time to dwell on it for long because those noises were gone as quick as they started. He slowly lifted his head, the blank whites staring at her with an indescribable rage that didn't match on the face she knew so well. The look on a face only belonged to a monster that will show no regret to what he's about to do with her.

She knew she had to get away fast.

"Pikachu!" She called out to the Mouse Pokémon when she saw him slowly getting to his knees. "Pikachu, we have to get out of here! Pikachu!"

There was no form of response from the rodent. By then, he was already reaching for the scissors that were across from him after that small attack.

Realizing that she couldn't wait for Mouse Pokémon anymore when she already saw him getting to his feet, Serena quickly made a break for it towards the elevator, silently hoping that despite her small hops due to her broken ankle she would make into the golden freedom in time. She could already hear faint breathing coming behind her as she finally grasped the gates with her two hands. She didn't even have time to mentally relieve herself because the sounds of footsteps rushing towards told her that she didn't have any time at all.

"Pikachu!" She gave one last cry as she practically threw the gates open and ran in them like her life depended on it - which it actually was. Despite every instinct in her body that told her to leave Pikachu behind, Serena knew she couldn't do that. Ash would have even more of a reason to never forgive her, and she would never leave a friend behind.

"Pikachu!" She tried again, but once she saw the imposter only a few inches away from the elevator with the scissors raise in the air and the Mouse Pokémon nowhere in sight, she realized that she had to leave him behind.

With all of her might, Serena went to slam gates shut but was startled when she realized it didn't lock in place and the scissors had somehow made their way through the holes that were part of the design and were ready to stab her. She tried to slam the gates shut once again but realized that were was something that came between the gate and the lock.

The imposter's hand.

Apparently in his quick attempt to prevent her from escape he grabbed the gates by the side and tried to pull it back, only it ended up getting his hand caught in-between the gate and the lock. She was actually surprised he kept it there as she continues to try and slam the gates shut, he probably would have a few broken bones by now at the ferocity she was giving with each tug. He must have been so focused on trying to stab her with the scissors that he didn't even notice his other hand.

A part of her wished he did because it was hard keeping her grip on the gates from opening anymore while trying to avoid a pair of small scissors from stabbing her in the eye.

Serena didn't know how long her adrenaline could keep up, the pain in her ankle had risen up to her waist, her arms were aching from trying to keep the gates close, and she had scissors to worry about. She thought about trying to reach for the level and pull it so she can escape this floor of terror but decided since the imposter caught her staring at them lever and turned his aim so that the scissors were in-between her and her only ticket away from him.

She thought she was a goner.

Before she noticed a flash of yellow from behind him.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Upon seeing the imposter crying out in pain once the familiar wave of electricity covered his whole body. But looking at the face of the boy she loves in pain was hard to watch so Serena had to turn her head away for a bit. When she heard him go silent, she turned around just in time to see the imposter fall to the ground, twitching as the electricity was still coursing through his body. The scissors were a few feet away from him, a safe distance.

Standing over him was a mouse that Serena never felt so happy to see in her entire life. He stood over the imposter, his red cheeks still cracking with electricity while his eyes showed something that she didn't have time to dwell on it for long when saw the imposter shift slightly so that he was resting on his elbows.

"Pikachu, come on!" Serena waves her arms frantically as she opened the gate wide enough for the Pokémon to run through. Pikachu gave one last look of the figure - who was already on his knees - before he ran straight into the elevator, taking his place on her shoulder as Serena closed the gates, the sounds of gears locking sternly in place.

By then, the imposter was already on his feet and reaching for the scissors.

Wasting no time once she saw him with the scissors in hand, Serena threw the lever down and felt the elevator shift slightly.

But it didn't go up like she expected it to, it went down to a possibly lower level.

How many levels are there in this place?

Before she could reach for the lever and correct her mistake, a loud _thud_ caused by something colliding with the gates startled her to the point she nearly screamed.

Despite being locked out of the elevator, it didn't stop the imposter from trying to break it down with the scissors. Serena watched as terrifying form disappeared as the elevator continues to descend, but the screams of frustration were still loud enough to hear even when they gradually faded over time.

Serena let out a few gasps that she wasn't aware of as she put her back against the wall, her eyes never leaving the place where she saw her life flashing before her eyes. Her mind couldn't fully process this all at once. The Ash that she thought she was with wasn't Ash at all, then the other bomb dropped on her head when the imposter tried to kill her.

This was too much.

Pikachu could only pat her shoulder in comfort as tears spilled over her eyes and she slide down until she was sitting on the floor while she buried her tear-stained face into her knees. Her sobs echoed throughout the darkness inside this terrible place, slowly overlapping the frustrated screams from above.

She didn't even notice that the elevator made a complete stop the whole time she cried her heart out.

* * *

He almost had her.

He almost _had_ her.

If he had gotten her, then that would mean two out of three children would be out of the way and he will finally get what he wants.

But no, he had to let his guard down. He wanted to make it seem like he was the boy she knew so it would drive suspicion off of him and he could get her when she least suspected it. How was he suppose to know that this nice kid won't normally forgive people for saying something like that? Then again, his total reaction was how he managed to get him in the first place so he should have pay attention to that.

If only he killed that rodent off when he first found them unconscious back there, then he would have gotten her even when she figured out.

He growled, everything was going wrong. He couldn't kill off one of the obstacles in his way and now that wretched girl is down _there_ and very likely to find something that she shouldn't be seeing. A part of him wanted to stomp his foot around like before or stab the ground with the scissors but he stopped himself. He may have let his guard down with the girl, but there was no way he was going to let his guard down with _this_.

Apparently, he shouldn't have underestimated this whole thing back in that pathway a while back. He was lucky that he managed to stop it in time or otherwise that girl would have known straight away. But even now _he's_ still trying to use his frustration to his advantage!

Having enough, he slams his fist - the one that wasn't holding the scissors - to the wall that causes a loud _thud_ to echo across the hall. "QUIET!"

There was a moment of silence inside this old place. Finally, he could feel himself breathing normally again.

He stood straighter while his blank, white eyes were staring at the hole where the elevator got down. He could try using that other path to get down there, but by then it would probably be too late and she would discover the thing he's been keeping so desperately hidden all these years. Besides, he didn't want to risk getting electrocuted by that Pikachu again.

"-doesn't make any sense-"

He looked over to a certain area in interested. Did he just hear what he think he heard?

"-find Ash and Serena-"

There was another voice that time. A smaller and higher tone than the one he originally heard. He walked closer to where he heard the voices from; a dislodged pipe that's connected to the wall.

What many people don't know that in a Manor that's as old and big as this, sound always finds a way to travel through. For this house, in particular, the only way for sound to travel through is the vents. And from the vents, the sound went into the pipes. If one of those pipes were just so happened to be dislodged, then anyone could hear what the other person is saying.

For him, it was a big relief. Because now he can continue on with his plan without interruption from that girl. After all, she's trapped down there, and all he have to do is get that other one out of the way.

* * *

Clemont didn't waste time grabbing his sister's hand and dragged her down the hall, Greninja following not so far behind. After reading what he saw from that book, he realized they're in more trouble than they originally thought. If what he saw was true, then they all are gonna die a horrible death and have their parts use for something horrible.

"Clemont, where are we gonna go?" Bonnie asked from behind him, doing her best to keep up with her brother.

"Anywhere that we won't be sitting Psyducks!" He told her sternly, his eyes kept glancing towards all the doors that were open in this hallway. The idea of this crazed spirit of the murderer jumping out on them only increased his worries. They had to find someplace where they won't be out in the open for the killer to spot them.

Maybe if they're lucky enough they could find their friends, hopefully not chopped up into-

 _Thump!_

The two humans and Pokémon ceased their movements when they heard that noise in one of the rooms in front of them. Judging by how loud it was and how clear they could hear it, that noise came from the room with the open door. A room that they were just about to walk past before they stopped.

Bonnie looked up at her brother with frightened eyes. "Clemont..."

He shushed her before he brought her over to the wall, Greninja following their movements. They pressed themselves up against the wall, watching the room intently in case someone or something would walk out. Clemont had taken out the lug nut wrench he was holding before just in case that this thing could be a threat or not.

He may have forgotten that most of the inhabitants of this house are ghosts so using physical weapons may not be the best idea. But at that point, he no longer cared anymore. Besides, they have Greninja with them and Dark-types have an advantage against ghosts so they should be alright if the thing that comes out is, indeed, a ghost.

A shadow appeared from the door moments later, giving Clemont the chance to strike.

He raises the wrench over his head and slams it down onto the thing's head.

"Hey!"

Or more like he slammed the wrench over someone's head since he realized he made actually made contact with the person, so it couldn't be a ghost once his logical side told him that ghosts can be intangible when they want so it probably would've gone straight through the thing.

What he didn't expect was to find a pair of amber orbs staring at him with an annoyed expression as he rubbed the spot where the wrench hit him.

"A wrench? Seriously, Clemont?! You trying to knock me out or something?"

The three of them were entirely speechless. Clemont even let the wrench he was previously holding slip onto the floor.

"A-Ash?!"

* * *

Serena didn't know how long she was crying in that elevator but she didn't care at the moment. So many things were going wrong with her life ever since she entered this horrid house; she's been a terrible friend to Ash as she accused of him doing some horrible prank on them when reality he was suffering, she's now on Ash's most-hated-people-list for saying that he is the reason his father left, and now she just faced an imposter with Ash's face and is now forced to wonder where the real Ash is.

A part of her felt like it was her fault for letting this all happened to them. Maybe if she didn't explode at Ash back in the hallway he would still be here with them. Probably still ticked off at her, but at least he wouldn't hate her and be left alone for something to kidnap him.

Now she has no idea if he's even alive anymore.

"Pikachu-Pi?"

Serena eventually lifted her head up so that the Mouse Pokémon could stare at her tear-filled eyes. "Why did this have to happen, Pikachu?" She couldn't help but ask him. "Why did this happened to us? Why did this happen to Ash?"

Pikachu looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Maybe he should tell her later when she finally calmed down, although, he doubt it would do anything to soothe her worries but only increase it.

She sniffed before she put her hand against the gate and lifted herself off the floor, despite feeling the dull throb in her leg. Serena knew she couldn't stay weak for long. Now that she knows that there's an imposter running around with Ash's face, she would need to warn the others since they don't know what's going on. Judging by the silence from above the imposter went away, hopefully.

But before she could put her hand on the lever something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and what she saw made her screamed.

Lying there on the table in the middle of this level was a body.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: This is it, everybody. The moment we've all been waiting for. We'll finally find out the mystery of the Lewis Manor. Which means the identity of who the murderer is and what was the caused to one the Lewis Siblings' death. Okay, I'll admit, we won't know the _full_ mystery since one of the sibling's deaths won't be revealed until later. But hey, we'll know more now, won't we?**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: Should've gone with that feeling, my friend. ;) Um, I don't think Clemont's Luxray is going to help our heroes in this situation. I looked it up myself and Luxray is just a full Electric-type, not to mention Clemont's own Luxray doesn't know any Dark-type moves, so...**

 **thor94: I promise you, there _will_ be a scene where we see Ash's point-of-view of his torture. But it won't come as soon as you think.**

 **Juster of Rivia: You're kinda late on that suggestion there, buddy. XD I already saw Resident Evil 7 by watching Markiplier play it. And all I can say it's giving me some great ideas for one the characters. ;)**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: Steel, no chainsaws. Or I'll send either Wendy or Willy after you! Joking, or am I? XD Anyway, you know me. The sadistic writer that shares the cliffhanger's pain to everyone!**

 **ginnylovesharry5: Thank you! It's so awesome that you don't usually read horror stories and yet you're reading mine! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

The moment she recognized her raven-haired friend, Bonnie immediately launched herself onto him while she wrapped her little arms around his legs. "Ash! You're okay!" She shouts in pure relief, her grip firmly around him. "We were so worried about you! We had no idea where you've gone too or if you were really dead!"

Clemont wanted to voice his own opinion on the matter but he then noticed the way Ash looked. The boy became completely rigid once his sister's arms were around him. The way Ash's eyes looked told him that he didn't actually believe that where he was right now wasn't actually real. A part of him should have suspected this since Ash was the one to suffer the most inside this horrible place. The idea of finally being safe with his friends was probably hard to believe.

Upon seeing that Ash's hands were trembling as he returned Bonnie's hug, Clemont decided that it was enough so he taps his sister's shoulder. "Bonnie, give him some space," he said gently. "He's probably still in shock after everything he's been through." Although she pouted, Bonnie eventually let the raven-haired boy go while smiling up at him.

Ash - Clemont noted - was still staring at them like they were illusions to haunt him. Although, it looked like he was staring at Bonnie more than himself and Greninja. Clemont frowned at that, wondering why seeing Bonnie would seem to frighten him the most.

He decided to ask the important question that's been plaguing them for a while. "Ash, what happened when you were in your room? There was hair, _real_ hair, all over your door so we couldn't get in. Then you sounded like you were choking on something and when we finally got the door opened, you were gone!"

"I-I don't know..." Ash answers, his voice coming out small as the whole events came back on him. "I blacked out so I couldn't remember who or what was choking me, t-then I woke up all alone in this weird room. I thought that those ghosts were gonna kill me later so I escaped and... Oh man..."

Clemont could feel his guilt creeping up on him. All those times of leaving Ash alone had taken its toll on the poor boy and now he couldn't even look at them in the eyes.

Dropping that conversation, for now, Clemont decided to talk about something else. "Ash, did you by any chance encounter Serena or Pikachu when you were escaping?"

Ash looked up with slight confusion in his eyes. "No, why?"

"They fell down a hole a while ago, we've been looking for them along with you this whole time!" Clemont explained.

Ash's eyes slowly widen in horror. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find them!"

"Yeah!" Bonnie cries before grabbing Ash by his hand and began to lead him down the hall. "We'll find them in no time!"

Clemont was about to follow after them when he noticed something off. For this whole time, Greninja made no move to acknowledge that he was grateful to see his trainer again. In fact, Clemont couldn't even tell what the Ninja Pokémon was thinking since Greninja was keeping a blank look during this whole encounter.

"Is everything alright, Greninja?" The lemon-haired boy asked, but Greninja didn't reply as he began to follow the two humans down the path. Completely dumbfounded, Clemont quickly followed after him.

* * *

Serena backed herself against the wall as she stared at the body before her in fear. If Ash's reactions had told her anything, seeing a corpse was never a good sign. If a corpse was here then a spirit wouldn't be so far behind to attack her or the spirit within the corpse could attack her if they wanted too. Due to the sudden scare and everything that was going on, Serena was completely frozen and made no move to pull the lever as she waited with trembling doom for something to happen.

Seconds went by and nothing happened.

Finally calming herself down, Serena looked at the corpse with slight curiosity while slowly removing herself from the wall. Looking at this more closely, Serena wouldn't have thought it was a corpse in the first place. The skin - from what she could see - has retained its natural tone and it didn't rot away like most corpses. She could've easily mistaken it for someone that was sleeping if she didn't know what happened inside the Lewis Manor.

Serena grasped the gates and slowly opened them. Since nothing happened yet she deemed it to be safe and walked out of the elevator, taking a few small steps at a time in case something does pop out while making sure she doesn't strain her ankle any more than she already did while hearing the small pitter-patter of Pikachu's feet against the floor right beside her.

As she grew closer to the body on the table and had a more clear view of the person's face Serena did everything she could to hold back a scream. Right, where the eye sockets should be are large gaping holes on each side of her - Serena assumed it was a girl due to the white nightgown she was wearing - face as if someone had used a pair of scissors on them. After the near-death experience a while back, Serena could already guess who did this.

"Oh my..." Serena whispered in horror. Other than the holes that were clotted up with dried blood, the girl looked entirely peaceful before the moment she died. It made Serena feel guilty that while everyone else in the world was living their lives she had hers cut so short. It made her wonder why would the murderer do something like this to a bunch of innocent people - although, she shouldn't really question the motives of a psycho maniac.

While she took in the girl's features Serena thought she noticed something familiar about this girl. She had originally thought it was one of those marked girls from before but she realized there was something more about this girl. Serena had thought she saw this girl somewhere before, in a picture of some sort. But since this girl obviously had her eyes gouged out Serena had no idea where she saw this girl from.

"Where have I seen you before?" She mumbled to herself as she began to look around the room for clues. A drawer with a picture frame caught her attention. Taking one last look at the corpse before her, Serena made her way over to the drawer with Pikachu quickly following behind her. As she grew closer to the drawer she saw the picture in more detail, but once she saw who was in the picture she gasps.

In the picture are two kids - a boy, and a girl - sitting down on some grassy fields. The girl appeared to be older since she was way taller than the boy. Underneath her brown corset vest, she wore a white shirt with sleeves that were leg-of-mutton while a small black ribbon was tied around her collar. A long, flowing green skirt was spanned out across the green grass, almost blending in perfectly. The girl was beautiful, Serena decided, with the way blue eyes shone with a special gleam in the light and how her short-bobbed, black hair flew against the visible wind while her fair skin glow against the sunlight.

"Wait..." Serena finally realized where she's seen that girl before. She turned back to the corpse, almost an exact replica of the girl in the picture.

She took a few steps closer. "You're..."

"You're Maya Lewis..."

It was a fact, not a question. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the body of the first victim inside the Lewis Manor. But looking at the corpse confused her; she knew that nobody figured out how Maya died - she even saw a picture of her body a while back and it showed no signs of injury or a sickness. However, it looked like somebody had gouged out her eyes. What could this mean? Did the murderer take her eyes out as some sort of prize?

"Why would they do this you?" Serena whispered, not knowing who she was talking too but some part of her told her that she wasn't exactly alone in the room with just Pikachu.

She turned back to the drawer, taking in the rest of the picture. The boy in the picture was sitting on Maya's laugh, having this goofy little expression on his face. He had the same black hair and fair skin as Maya - thus made Serena believed that this was her little brother that died just as mysteriously - but the only difference between the two was the eyes. While Maya had beautiful ocean orbs, Thomas - as she remembers - had two amber orbs that reminded her of one boy. That one person she hurt the most.

She shook her head to get away from those thoughts. As far as she could see, this looked like to be some sort of shrine for the kids since there was one small lit candle that was right next to the picture. Why would the murderer build them a shrine since they were the one who killed these innocent kids? Maybe there really was a human underneath that horrible monster.

Serena opened the first slide, intending to find more about what happened to Maya Lewis and to figure out who this murderer was as a human. The drawer only had two piles of paper on each side but upon reading the titles she could feel her blood freezing. One title read: _How to Mend Amputated Body Parts Together_. The other said: _Alchemist's Guide to Body Possession_.

Her hand immediately found the first one - she decided that she read that one first due to some part telling her that she wasn't ready to read that, not until she finds out what these pages were about. Apparently, these pages are a guide on mending amputated body parts - as the title suggested. She skimmed through a few parts, trying to find something that could attract her attention when she found one certain paragraph. It told her how a few certain amputated body parts can be welded together to create a new body. Although the body won't be alive, it will still look as if a person was sleeping peacefully.

Thoughts of those marked girls and Maya Lewis entered her mind as she slowly turned her head to stare at the body laying on the table with realization. Now it made sense why this body had her eyes gouged out even though Maya Lewis died from mysterious causes; someone made tried to make an exact replica of the original. The only person who popped into mind was the murderer, but it still didn't make sense. If they killed her, why would they want to create a replica of her?

Some part of her believed that she will find her answers she will need if she read that other paper. But the other part didn't want to in fear of what she might read.

Eventually, one side had won and Serena picked the paper up with trembling fingers as her eyes scanned through each word.

 _The term **Possession** came from the old Latin word: **Possidere**. It means "take hold of". Others believed that ghost, spirits or even demons had the power to enter the living and bend them to their own desires. Over time people believed the concept of possession to their problems despite the possibly of a mental illness, thus causing many deaths due to many attempts of an exorcism..._

Serena already knew how possession works - the Hoopa incident taught her more than enough - but she kept on reading. She didn't want to miss a single detail.

... _Possession was always thought of a supernatural power between the mind and the soul. The only way to completely tell if a person's possessed is by looking at changes in the eyes. Because of its unnatural causes, no human had thought of physical creatures be capable of such power. However, a recent discovery was found by one alchemist that the power of possession can be possible for physical creatures, even humans. It will only be possible only through intense mental training and focus. If possible, a physical creature can be able to transform itself into a different state of matter that will allow them to possess another living being._

 _It is not always easy to possess a host. There are times where one will fight back and expel the possessor. You must find a weak host so that this does not happen. If you were to possess one with a possibly strong will that won't be easy to possess, then you must break their spirit. Some sort of traumatization to render their senses completely useless. It will be difficult for the host to fight back since their mind will not be entirely focused on..._

Serena had stopped reading as the papers slipped from her grasps. Thoughts of everything that happened to a certain raven-haired flash through her mind. How every single time she and the others found him he was slowly slipping away from being that cheerful boy that they all admired. He had already lost it when she found him in that hallway, she just only added more fuel to the fire.

She felt weak in her legs - and it wasn't because of sprained ankle - as hot tears began to burn her eyes. What had she done? She had let this house used her as it's puppet to hurt the boy she cared about the most. She let her anger for Ash's sudden distant behavior take over while being ignorant to the reasons behind his whole behavior. Apparently, she didn't love the boy as much as she thought.

"Pikachu-Pi?"

She looked up to see the familiar mouse Pokémon staring at her from the drawer in front. His eyes shone with concern and understanding.

"You knew, didn't you," it was a statement, not a question. "You knew that this whole time, the Ash that attacked us was really him."

Pikachu nodded, unable to meet her gaze. He had figured out that the person who locked him up was definitely his Pika-Pi - the scent was unmistakable. But he had also caught a whiff of another that was in the same place as his Pika-Pi, so he knew that his trainer was in trouble. He wanted to tell Serena sooner, but after everything that's happened he didn't know how would the honey-blonde girl take it.

He jumped slightly when he felt a warm hand patted his head. Looking up he saw Serena smiling softly at him.

"It's okay, Pikachu," she tells him, continuing to stroke his head. "I understand why you didn't tell me, it would be too much after everything going on. Thank you."

The mouse Pokémon smiled softly before leaning into her touch. "Cha..."

Serena let out a small chuckle before her attention was turned back to the papers she had previously dropped. _Oh, Ash..._ She thought about how she found him back in that pathway back upstairs, how he was on his knees and knees while seemly in very deep pain. _He was trying to warn me_ , she realized _. He knew I was in trouble and tried to help me even after everything that I did to him_. These thoughts only made her guilt go above its limit.

Her eyes then shone with determination as she went up to the second drawer underneath the one she found the two papers. Despite everything that happened, Serena was bent on making up for it. Besides, she couldn't dwell on her past actions. Ash wouldn't want her to do it. When she opened that second drawer, she didn't exactly suspect to find an old, worn-out journal with a cover that read: **Maya's Diary. Don't touch, Tommy.**

Serena picked it up carefully, this thing was probably as old as this house so she had to be careful in case she might accidently rip the pages and ruin her chance on finding anything else that could be useful. If this really was Maya Lewis's diary, then maybe she could find some clues on how she died while figuring out who this murderer really is.

She opened the first page the read the first thing she saw:

 _Day 1_

 _It appears I have died._

Serena tilted her head slightly. Who would write something like that in their diary? She still kept reading, however.

 _I didn't realize it until I was able to walk through a door without even opening it. For this whole time, I was trying to catch a staff's attention and asked where my brother was. They never answered me. I found out that he died after me. Stabbed himself in the heart. He didn't want me to go so he went with me. I watched as my color-drained body was put into a casket. It made me wonder, where was my brother?_

Serena flipped the page.

 _Day 2_

 _I finally found my brother. My parents wished to cremate me so that they will never have to look at my face again. Even though I was their favorite because I was the "normal" child, they despised me for loving Tommy. When Tommy found out about that, he wasn't happy._

She flipped the page again.

 _Day 5_

 _They finally found my parents. They were almost unrecognizable, even I couldn't recognize them. I haven't heard from Tommy in a while. I don't think he even knows I'm still in the same house with him._

The page flipped once again.

 _Day 1820_

 _He killed that poor lady. My brother used Willy to kill that lady. She didn't do anything wrong. Why did you kill her, Tommy? Why?_

Another page turned again.

 _Day 4375_

 _I finally found out why my brother was killing all these people. He wants to bring me back. He used Willy as his puppet to possess the strongest person in a group that would enter the house. He will chop off everyone's body parts and try to find the one that matches me. He's making me a new body. Stop this, Tommy. I don't want this. I want us to be together, but not like this._

After that, it was just a blank page. But Serena felt glad it was over because she didn't want to read any more of those disturbing journal entries.

It all made sense regarding Tommy's death. After his sister's death, Tommy didn't know what to do so he did the only thing that was logical to him; he killed himself so he could be with her. She didn't know what his relationship was like with his parents, but she could only imagine it. He killed his own parents for unfairly giving her a cremation even though Maya wasn't contaminated during her death.

For those past years, Tommy and Maya both roamed the halls as lost spirits, both in the same house but were unaware of where the other one was. Somehow, Tommy must have figured out that his sister was with him and possibly wanted to give her another chance of life. So, he found those pages that can teach him not only taught him how to amputate and weld body parts back together but help a physical creature - who probably goes by Willy - possess other living creatures. It was Tommy Lewis this whole time and nobody in Kalos knew it.

But that still didn't change one question; how did Maya Lewis even die?

Before she could ponder further on this, a sound from one of the pipes caught her attention.

"-do you remember exactly-"

She freezes. That voice, it sounded just like Bonnie.

"-not really-"

And that other voice. The same voice that tried to trick her a while back but she saw right through it. But would it be the same for the others?

Immediately, Serena stumbled over to the pipe - ignoring the way her ankle flared up - and started to shout into it. "Clemont? Bonnie? Can any of you hear me?!"

* * *

"Clemont! Bonnie!"

Hearing their names being called through a ventilation wasn't something they expected to happen in their lives. But to hear the sound of a familiar honey girl's voice summoned a wave of relief over the two siblings as they and Greninja quickly made their way over to the vent where they heard Serena's voice. They failed to notice didn't move from his spot while her amber eyes began to dull.

"Serena, you're okay!" Bonnie cried in excitement.

"Bonnie is that you?!" Came the frantic voice of Serena through the vents.

"I'm here too, Serena! And so is Greninja," Clemont says with Greninja making sounds of acknowledgment. "Is Pikachu with you?"

"He is," a small "Pika" echoed through the vents, confirming this. "Guys, there's something that you need to-"

"You won't believed who we ran into, Serena," Bonnie caught her off before she could say anything. "I'll give you a hint, he as those dreamy eyes that you can't but stare at all the time.

The young girl was actually surprised when she heard a sharp tone that didn't exactly fit someone like Serena. "Now's not the time, Bonnie! You guys have to listen to me, that person you're with is _not_ Ash!"

Now they really didn't expect that. "Excuse me - what?" Clemont managed out.

"It's not Ash! T-There's something inside him, guys! The murderer's possessing Ash!"

Once again, more bombs were dropped on their heads and they had no idea on how to react. To know that the friend they've been searching for wasn't exactly him was something they were not prepared for.

"Serena," Clemont slowly turned his head to face the raven-haired where they had previously left him. "What are trying to say-?"

The moment he turned around Clemont was meet with a blow to the head which made him crumble to the ground.

The last thing he remembered was hearing his sister screaming in fear and seeing a few dots of red in his vision before he blacked out completely.

* * *

 **Is anyone else getting destroyed by these cliffhangers like my friend, Steel Heart Alchemist? Really, I gotta know.**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry for not updating on Saturday. I was working on another story that I was working on along with this story at the same. But good thing I had no school due to all the snow days so I can get all of these chapters done a little sooner than expected. Well, as long as I get my projects done, that is.**

 **Juster of Rivia: As the old saying goes, I guess. Really did like the game, though, and I never even been into the Resident Evil series.**

 **Ristu: Um... Sorry? I can't really help it with the suspense since I'm really a sucker for it. If it makes you feel any better, I always try my best to upload once a week.**

 **Steel Heart Alchemist: Hm... I wonder how I should douse those Flames of Satan. Which method would you prefer, a regular hose or a bucket full of Wendigo saliva? Eh, I don't really think it matters how much shows you watch. I can't even count how many Scooby-Doo episodes I've seen.**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: I think you might've mentioned something like that before. Not entirely sure, but you said about Tommy and his sister at one point. I'm not entirely sure, but wasn't the whole usual family plot is when the older sister dies by the psychotic little brother, who has no remorse on what he did to his sister? I could just be taking a guess from that since the only horror plot that I know between older sister and younger brothers was from _Halloween_.**

* * *

If she were thinking clearly Bonnie would have reacted quicker when she saw Ash pick up a hardcover book and whack her brother over the head with it. But she didn't so she could only watch in terror as her brother crumbles to the ground like a ragdoll. The only signs of movement that Clemont was making were twitching his fingers, indicating that her brother was still alive and that Ash didn't hit him hard enough to break his neck. However, the raven-haired boy took a few steps closer to the semi-unconscious boy with clear attentions of finishing the job.

Bonnie now found movement in her legs again and made a dash towards Ash. "Hey, you leave my big brother alone!" She pounded her small little fists against his legs, thinking it might hurt him.

However, she failed to realize that whenever or not this was really Ash he was still a lot of stronger than so her small punches were as if a Meowth was pawing at him. He quickly put an end to it by grabbing her arms so suddenly. Bonne had tried to break free but his grip proves to be unimaginable against hers.

"Hey, where are you taking me?!" She cried when Ash started to pull her away from her brother, her little feet slowly being drag across the floor in vain to get him to stop. "Let me go! Somebody help! Greninja!"

Greninja, who had been checking for a response from Clemont, quickly shot his head up when he saw the little girl being dragged away by the imposter wearing his trainer's skin. With one last glance at the lemon-haired boy, the Ninja Pokémon sprinted towards the two at incredible speed that the imposter didn't retain a firm grip on Bonnie's arm as Greninja took her out of his.

But Greninja didn't expect him to pull out a pair of scissors out of the blue so suddenly. He would've been stabbed in the eye if it weren't for his quick reflexes that made him grab the scissors in time.

"Greninja!" Bonnie cried from her spot on the ground when Greninja had to let go of her to stop the scissors from reaching his face. She watched in horror with Dedenne and Squishy - who were hiding within Bonnie's pouch but came out when they heard the commotion - as Greninja currently fights for his life to push the scissors away from him. But Ash was still somehow able to keep the scissors in place, possibly because the imposter was able to transfer some of their strength into Ash or his trainer was stronger than he thought.

He didn't know how long he was holding his trainer back but it felt like an eternity when he finally saw it.

There was a flicker of fear in his dull amber eyes.

"Gre! Gre!" He called out, trying to get his trainer back from whatever dark hole he was trapped in. Despite everything that happened to him, Greninja knew that his trainer has a will of iron. He wouldn't let himself be completely engulfed by the darkness that was clouding his mind.

And it turned out he was right. No soon after his shout, Ash's right eye twitched, then his face turned into a pained grimace. It was like his body wasn't sure who it should be listening to and the strain was taking its toll from the way Greninja felt all the muscles in the wrists he was holding back contracted violently.

Then his amber eyes quickly sparked with life, but only they were terrified instead of that fiery determination he was so used to seeing.

"G-Greninja..." he choked out as if it hurt to speak. "H-Help me... P-Please..." He began to cough, his body reacting violently against the two minds that were fighting for dominance. Greninja took notice of how Ash was lowering the hand he was previously using to try and stab him with the scissors. They didn't drop from his hand like the Ninja Pokémon expected too due to all the strain Ash was going through, but he did bring his arm down to his side in a non-stabbing position as his whole body trembled.

"Gre!" The Ninja Pokémon put a hand on the boy's shoulder in any way to comfort him. He should have expected this to be difficult for Ash since he was still technically exhausted from his whole ordeal inside this horrid place. Even now it looked like it was taking all of Ash's strength to even talk to him.

He stopped all of a sudden. There were no more strained whimpers or even his body trembling from the unnatural shivers. It was the complete silence that came from the raven-haired boy.

Now Greninja was nervous. He couldn't tell who won the battle since Ash's eyes were closed. He shook him softly. "Gre?"

Ash's hand suddenly lurches forward and the scissors stabbed the Ninja Pokémon right in his upper leg.

Greninja wasn't aware of the small trail of warm blood that felt like it was burning as it runs down his leg. The only thing that crossed the Ninja Pokémon's mind was the bitter cold blade that pierced through his skin like a razor. He slowly moved his head down towards his impaled leg, his eyes widening once he saw the bloodstained scissors was still stuck. The worst part of seeing that was seeing his trainer's own hands covered in the same blood.

He looked back up to Ash and was horrified when he saw those dull amber eyes staring back at him. He couldn't even see his own reflection in them. Just two blank orbs that show no concern about their actions having consequences.

"G-Gre..."

Ash yanked the scissors out with such ferocity that it made the blood sprayed to the floor. Greninja finally felt the burning pain that shot from his wound to the whole area of his leg. He collapsed to his side, putting both of his hands over to the wound to put pressure on it and to get it to stop bleeding.

However, Ash wasn't done with him as he raises the scissors over his head once more to bring it down on the wounded Pokémon's head.

"Hey, you!"

Ash looked over to where he heard that squeaky voice only to be met by a chair to the head. He stumbled into the wall, scissors falling from his grasps as he tried to gain back his bearings.

"That was for taking over my friend, hitting my brother in the head, and hurting a Pokémon, you ghostly jerk!" Bonnie shouts at him but he didn't response as he was groaning from that sudden attack. Bonnie quickly hurried over to Greninja and gasped when she saw blood pouring from between Greninja's fingers.

"Oh my goodness, Greninja," Bonnie nearly screams in horror. "Are you alright?!"

Greninja slowly nodded, trying to mask the sizzling pain that was spreading through his leg. Bonnie grabbed his arm and tried to help him up. She tried to ignore the way Greninja whimpered when he was brought up to his two feet and accidently put pressure on his wounded leg.

"Come on, Greninja, we need to get big brother and get out of here!" Bonnie shouted as she leads the Ninja Pokémon over to her unconscious brother. She temporally let go of Greninja and shook Clemont by the shoulders. "Clemont? Clemont, wake up!"

He didn't respond.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Ash reaching for the scissors.

"Greninja, help me!" Bonnie begged and Greninja immediately reached down to put the unconscious boy over his shoulder. However, the wound in his leg instantly exploded with pain once the added weight put pressure on it. He had no choice but to drop Clemont back on the ground.

"Greninja, please!" Bonnie tried to lift Clemont up herself but despite his scrawny appearance the young girl still had trouble with her brother's weight. Greninja once again tried to help her lift him but winced when he felt more pressure on his wound. He had no choice but to drop Clemont once again to tend his wound by trying to stop the blood flowing.

Bonnie bit her lip once she realized Greninja couldn't lift anything up without damaging his wound any further. She knew at this point she would have to make a decision soon because Ash had already found his scissors and was slowly making his way over to them. But each of those decisions was actions that she didn't want to do.

Either she stays with her unconscious brother and giving Ash the possible chance to kill them all, or she escapes with Greninja in toll but she would have to her brother behind.

Coming down to a decision, Bonnie burst into tears once she realized what her actions could possibly lead to. She hugs the unconscious Clemont with all her might. "I'm so sorry, big brother," she whispers before kissing his check. "I love you," She quickly brings herself up to her feet and immediately puts Greninja's around her shoulders.

"Come on, Greninja, let's go!" Greninja didn't even have time to argue as Bonnie leads him down the hall, away from her unconscious brother and their corrupted friend.

* * *

He could feel himself snarling once those two were out of his sight. He tried to wait a moment to regain his proper senses since that blow to the face made everything blurry. But he should have gone with his gut and now those two were probably in the part of the house where even he has trouble finding people. Not to mention he was _so_ close to capturing _her_.

He wanted to scream and throw a tantrum. But doing that would only make him think about _her_ and he couldn't afford to be weak again after nearly losing to _him_.

He turned back to the unconscious boy that was right across his feet. A part of him was actually surprised that the little girl would leave her brother behind. Before he could figure out what to do with him a voice from the vents caught his attention.

* * *

"Clemont? Bonnie? Greninja? Are you still there? Can any of you hear me?!" Serena screeched desperately into the pipe she was using to communicate with the blonde siblings. After hearing sounds of screaming and collision she became scared that something was happening up there and she had no idea what that could be.

She tried to call them out again when a voice broke through the pipe.

"If you knew what was good for you, you stay down there with my sister."

It was Ash's voice, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't.

"Tommy, please listen to me," Serena tries to reason with the person that was using Ash's voice. "I know what happened with you and your sister, there's something you need to know about-!"

There was a loud _clang_ that came from the pipe that startled her, then she heard noises of footsteps that became softer the further he walked away from it.

Serena ran her fingers through her honey locks and felt like pulling them out. She thought that despite all the horrible things he had down he was still a little boy deep down and was only driven by the loss of his sister. Guess she shouldn't really be surprised since he was killing and mentally torturing people these past few decades. But what made him stop his killing spree for fifty years?

Was she really trying to figure out the complex thoughts of a deceased boy when he's possessing the boy she loves and she and her friends are in danger of dying?

Shaking her head, Serena looked around for something she could use as a non-lethal weapon. While she knew that the being controlling Ash will most likely not hold back on using a real lethal weapon, she couldn't play that same game. After all, it would Ash's body she be hurting instead of that psychotic kid.

Her eyes eventually caught an all aluminum shovel that was conveniently placed next to a ladder that apparently leads to some other level. She thought about getting the shovel and use that ladder to get to the other floor. However, those thoughts turned out to be in vain as Serena took look to where the ladder leads to and found a small trapped door that was bolted by locks and chains. There goes that shortcut.

She took the shovel into her hands and adjusted it slightly in her grip. It was heavy, but it wasn't completely unbalanced. Maybe she could use it to keep knocking Ash in the head until she finds the others and decide what to do with him.

With a determined shine in her blue eyes, Serena turns to Pikachu - who has the papers she found in his mouth. "Let's go, Pikachu." The Electric Mouse nods his head and quickly follows her into the elevator.

* * *

When he finally came to the first thing Clemont registered was the horrible pounding in his head. It felt like something was waiting to explode from his head and it made his vision all blurry - even with his glasses on. After a while, he could finally recognize that he was in a dark room of some sort. But where was he, though? The last thing he remembered was finding Ash, he and sister finally finding a way to contact Serena, then Serena screamed something about Ash.

Wait...

Everything came back to him at once. Getting into contact with Serena. Serena screaming about Ash being possessed by the murderer and Ash knocking him out cold.

Thus, leaving Bonnie and Greninja alone with their possessed friend.

"Bonnie!"

Clemont tried to move forward but realized he couldn't His legs were bound together. He tried to move his arms from behind his back to try and pry his legs loose only to realized that his arms were bound together behind his back as well.

His vision finally cleared and his eyes fell upon on how enclosed this area was and how he was almost elevated from the ground.

He was tied up in a closet and was standing on a bucket at the same time.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry that I didn't update this on Saturday like I usually do. That's what happens when you work on two stories at the same time. Also, I got retainers today! They feel weird in my mouth, though.**

 **Juster of Rivia: Well, I hope you got more things to say on this chapter. Reviews are always welcomed!**

 **Ritsu: It's okay! XD**

* * *

Clemont could feel himself panicking internally as he struggled against the bonds that held him. Why was he even tied up in the first place? From all the stories he's been told about the deaths within the Lewis Manor the murderer would kill their victims the first chance they get. So, why was he still alive? And where was Bonnie? Was she still alive?! Thoughts of his sister were what helped him to continue struggling. But due to his lack of physical strength, it became a long process. Again, why was he tied up?!

He almost considered giving up on wiggling his way out and tried to figure out a different method when he heard it.

A small click.

Then the doorknob slowly turned to it's right. It was almost disturbing at how slow it was going. Like someone was taking their sweet elegant time trying to terrify him. And it was definitely working if he could feel his heart pounding out of his chest.

The door finally opened after what seemed like an eternity. And standing before him was a familiar face, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"Ash!"

The boy that stood in the door did look like Ash. From his raven mess of a hair right down to those strange markings on his cheeks. However, his skin had gotten so pale from everything that happened inside this horrible place, a complete contrast to his regular mocha skin tone. The once amber eyes that were so filled with life, determination, and support had lost their glow. Now, they have dulled down to the point he couldn't even see his own reflection in them anymore.

Ash just cocked his head slightly to the side. Apparently, seeing his friend in this type of situation didn't affect him at all since he did nothing but stand there in the doorway. Remembering Serena's words awhile back he immediately stiffens. This wasn't his best friend standing before him, it was the murderer. But, for a moment, he thought he could see the old Ash within those lifeless eyes but it was gone before he could fully comprehend it.

"Ash, can you hear me?" when the boy gave no type of response he tried again. "Come on, Ash! I know you wouldn't just give up to something like this, fight it!"

Ash's face slowly changes at that. But while Clemont was expecting to see some of the real Ash, the Ash in front of him just gave him a small smirk before he drifted his gaze upwards for a moment.

Confused, Clemont looked up to where his possessed friend was looking at and his heart immediately stops.

A noose was hanging in the air above him, looking completely harmless but Clemont knew its true intentions.

He should have recognized this closet. It was the same closet he and the girls found Ash in, hanging by the same noose around his neck.

The intentions became so clear to him that he almost didn't notice the noose knot dropping down to his level and Ash taking ahold of it. He finally screamed for his life when Ash was about to put the rope around his neck.

"Ash, don't!" he stopped, thankfully, but he didn't know how long that would last. "Ash, please listen to me. I know you, you would never do something like this! Not to your friends, not to _anyone!_ You have to fight this, Ash! You wouldn't this thing kill all of your friends, right?!"

That small smirk came back. It was so unlike the Ash he knew and it was almost sickening to look at.

Then he spoke in a voice that sent shivers down his spine.

"Are you really sure he would never kill a friend?"

Clemont didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't even understand what he meant by that, anyway. Ash actually considering the possibility of killing any of his friends was an idea that shouldn't exist. But, what if it was true? He didn't know what Ash was thinking anymore, his whole entire personality was slowly demolishing the longer they stayed in this horrible place. Maybe the murderer was able to understand what Ash was thinking right now and he could hear Ash's possible idea of killing of his friends for not believing him.

What in the world was he thinking?! Ash _actually_ considering the idea of killing his friends? That's completely outrageous! This murderer was probably trying to trick him into thinking that so he could give up hope on Ash. But there was no way he was giving up on Ash. After all, Ash never gave up on any of them before.

But before he could say anything, Ash had already tied the rope around his neck.

"No! No, no, no, no! Ash, _please_ don't do this! Don't let this thing do this! Fight it! Ash! _Ash!_ "

Ash just backed away from him after securing the rope tightly, his horrible smirk never leaving his face once as he steps aside until he was facing the helpless lemon-haired boy's side. He drew his right leg back.

"ASH, _PLEASE!_ "

And he kicked the bucket out from underneath Clemont, leaving him dangling in the air by his neck.

The first thing Clemont registered was the sudden lack of oxygen coming into his lungs and started to gasp for it. When that didn't work he tried to claw at the rope but he was quickly reminded that his hands were tied behind his back, leaving him only able to kick helplessly air as his lungs practically burned for the precious oxygen to come back.

Through his sizzling tears, he saw a figure come in front of him. Despite his fading vision - even with the glasses - Clemont knew who this figure was. After all, he was the one to kick the bucket from underneath him.

"A...A...sh... As...sh... H...He...lp..."

He didn't know what happened after that - his vision had darkened at that point and he knew he was in trouble. However, he thought he heard something in the midst of his suffering. Strange, it sounded like someone was grunting as if they were in a middle of a physical battle. Who would be brawling in this awful place?

"Clemont!"

Suddenly, he felt something lift him up higher than the rope that was so close to taking away his life. The moment the rope became loose Clemont immediately took in all the air he could grab. However, his short reunion was ruined when he realized something; how was he able to breathe when the rope was still around him?

"Clemont, get that rope off!"

Clemont's eyes slowly widen once he realized what was happening. Ash had hoisted him up by putting the young blonde on his shoulders. Then again, he really isn't surprised by that; Ash was always physically stronger than him. But what surprised him was that Ash was actually helping him. Wasn't he the one who caused this to happen?

"Clemont, please! I can't fight them off and hold you up at the same time!"

Oh, wrong Ash.

Clemont immediately took hold of the rope - he didn't even realize that his hands were free from his back at first, maybe Ash must have freed them before he hoisted Clemont up - and ripped it off his head faster than Pikachu's thunderbolt. After taking a few deep breaths, he tapped Ash's head to know that he was freed.

The raven-haired boy gently set him down on the ground beside him, right out of the closet where they hopefully will never have to see again. He could feel him patting his back while Clemont coughed due to the itchiness from the rope and sudden lack of oxygen for a split moment. But then the hand disappeared and loud groans somehow overlapped his own coughs.

Daring himself to look, Clemont slowly turns his head and the sight caught him off his guard. Ash was on his knees, his back arched in a frightening way as he tried to curl himself up as much as he could. His arms were wrapped around himself and gripped his night robe, shirt, and possibly his skin as tight he was able to as if he was trying and relieving himself from the inner pain he was in.

He couldn't help but wince when a small scream erupted from Ash's throat. It was clear that Ash was possibly using all of his willpower right now to fight off the murderous spirit that was inside him and with everything that happened it probably had taken it's toll on him and his willpower to fight back. Why else would Ash's body tremble like he's about to have a convulsion?

"Ash...?" Clemont reached a hand in some way to comfort him.

"C-Clemont," he froze when he heard the strained and trembling voice of the Ash he knew. "G-Get as far away from me as you can, f-find the girls, a-and get out of this place..."

Clemont couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?! Ash, there's no way the girls and I are going to abandon you!"

"P-Please," his voice became high-pitched at that, showing how close Ash was to losing this battle. "I-I can't fight them for long. J-Just get out of here!"

Clemont froze. Them?

He shook his head. "Ash, I'm not gonna leave you alone with this thing inside-"

"Go _away_ , Clemont!"

Ash had whipped his head around to face him, trying to convince the young genius to leave him alone. But what Clemont saw horrified him; one of Ash's eyes was stuck in-between of going into his head or remaining where it originally was. Dripping from the corner of his mouth was this strange black liquid. _That's the same substance we found on his pillow right after he disappeared,_ Clemont thought.

"Please, just _go!_ "

Clemont was pulled out of his thoughts when Ash roughly pushes him away. It took a few seconds for the message to get fully across his mind before he brought himself up to his feet and made a run for it. While he may like it or not, Clemont knew Ash was right. He couldn't keep fighting the spirit forever. Not to mention it clearly looked it was also _physically_ painful for Ash to fight back. His body had no idea who it should listen so that inner battle was affecting it as well. Maybe it would be best for him to leave Ash until he finds the others.

So, the young genius was off, leaving behind his possessed friend - who had risen his head up and his blank white eyes were staring into the direction the blonde went off to.

* * *

"And, there!" Bonnie stood up proudly after previously sitting down. "You're wound has been properly bandaged by Doctor Bonnie! I would have given you a lollipop, but I ate the last one a few days ago."

Greninja wanted to raise his imaginary eyebrows at the little girl's antics but he ended wincing when he moved his injured leg slightly.

After escaping the possessed Ash, Bonnie and Greninja had found themselves back in the living room of the Lewis Manor. Thankfully, all of their stuff that she and Clemont had previously left behind when Serena and Pikachu disappeared were still there, giving her the chance to find the medicine she needed to sterilize the wound - she never really thought paying attention to Clemont's medical lectures would actually come in handy in her life.

And here they were; Bonnie standing up proudly after successfully wrapping Greninja's leg up with a bandage cloth. Granted, it wasn't done by a professional, but it was better than nothing. Although, Greninja wasn't exactly so keen on taking his chances with a young girl's education in medicine.

After finally letting go of her spotlight, Bonnie moved over to Ash's bags and pulled out a Pokéball.

"I know I'm not that good with medicine, Greninja," the young girl admits as if she had just read the Ninja Pokémon's thoughts. "Which is why I think it would best for you to stay in your Pokéball until I find everyone and get you to the Pokémon Center as fast as possible. I promise, Greninja, I will get Ash back and I _will_ get you the help that you need."

Greninja was honestly a little surprised. Throughout their journey, he has never heard Bonnie sound so sincere before. Granted, she did had a few serious moments but they were nothing like this. It was possible that after coming down to the decision of saving herself and Greninja over staying with her unconscious brother and take the risk of all of them getting killed by their possessed friend has brought out a side of Bonnie that they never got to see. It was like she finally realized that things were really serious and all of their lives were about to be determined by the choices they will make it in this literal house of horrors.

He nods to show that he believes in her on finding everyone and working together to defeat the evil that's within. With that, Bonnie pressed the button and sent Greninja right back into his Pokéball. Thus, leaving the little girl and her equally little Pokémon alone with a murder in the form of her best friend on the loose.


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: I am so sorry for not uploading this in weeks! I was busy on two chapters for my other story and I meant to finish this yesterday (it was also my birthday, yesterday by the way) but I couldn't and I'm really sorry for that! Wow, I just noticed how short this chapter is compared to my other ones. But I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Crestilia: Gee, don't act so surprised. XD**

 **Juster of Rivia: Really? I didn't even realized I was putting in Resident Evil 7 references in this story.**

* * *

The moment she saw Greninja disappear back into his Pokéball, Bonnie realized that she was alone. Sure, she had Dedenne and Squishy with her, but it would make her feel better if she had a Dark-type with her if she were to meet a murderous spirit within these halls. However, Bonnie knew she shouldn't push Greninja into defending her with a stab wound to the leg. That would just be cruel. No, she won't be a scared little girl. Her friends need her. Her brother needs her. And she's willing to do anything to save him.

Taking a deep breath, Bonnie turn her head towards the staircase. Although they seem harmless, Bonnie knew what awaited her at the top in both directions. A possible death in the hands of one of her best friends. She knew it wouldn't be his fault, though. But it didn't change the fact he would face an unbearable amount of guilt if he were to kill any of them. Oh, why did she had to bring the mystery of the Lewis Manor up? Maybe it would've stopped the spirits from focusing on them and Ash would still be the same cheerful boy they knew.

But she can't change the past. All she needs to do is face the present of the horrible reality that her friend is possessed by a serial killer.

After adjusting her yellow satchel that's secured around her body, she looked down to see the terrified faces of her Pokémon. "Well, up we go?" She tried to sound positive in order to make her Pokémon feel better. However, it didn't work as Dedenne only pushed himself further into the satchel. Squishy didn't look much better either. It didn't show any fear in its eyes. Just this blank stare as if it was already expecting the possessed Ash to jump out at them.

She decided to ignore any more thoughts as she made her first step on the stairway of swivet.

* * *

Why couldn't he do anything right?

He tried to be a good boy for his parents, but they ignored him and treated him like dirt. Called him horrible things like "Devil's spawn" or "cursed child" and he took it all. He was willing to take all the harsh words and being treated by those horrible doctors in some hope to get his parents to, at least, _somewhat_ like him, for Maya's sake.

But then his parents decided to go off the deep end and have Maya _cremated_ even though there was nothing wrong with her. Her caused of death wasn't harmful to anyone and yet they wanted to get rid of the _only_ thing that he could properly remember his sister by so they could punish her for loving him.

He never asked for Maya to love him. After all, she was the perfect child. But that didn't seem to be enough for their parents.

So he made them suffer a similar fate. It wasn't like being cremated since he didn't know how to control fire, but it was effective. He couldn't even recognize them himself and it wasn't hard to not remember their cold faces. He should've really thanked Willy for giving him the chance to punish them like they had punished Maya.

It was only a month after the incident that he realized what he did was absolutely horrific. He could imagine all the horrible things Maya would say to him if she were still here. But then that horrible reality sunk in and Maya wasn't there to lecture him. She wasn't there to do anything.

He wanted his big sister back.

That was why he decided to listen to _her_. To _him._ To _them._

All he needed to do was find that little girl and he will get his sister back.

Which prove to be more difficult than he thought since this house is practically a maze. Ironically enough, he's spent both lives - dead and alive - in this house and yet he could never get it fully memorized. He had no idea who he will find in this house but if it's any of those older kids he'll kill them straight away. No more specific murders, he wasted enough time so that one of them could fight back long enough for his friends to escape. If he were to find the little girl...

Well, he hopes this kid's strong enough to knock someone out.

He made his way over to one of the doors in the hall and twisted the knob. When he opened the door he didn't expect to find his decayed sister standing on the other side.

 _"Tommy..."_ She whispered in a voice that didn't sound like the one he remembered. It was more, demonic. The moment he saw his sister suddenly right in front of him he screamed and jumped back. He ended up landing on his behind and tried to scoot away from his sister as far as he could, but he only ended up hitting his back against the wall.

"No... No..." He begged, shaking his head back and forth. He didn't want to see _her_ again.

Although it almost looked like his sister, he knew it wasn't her. He remembered his sister having beautiful fair skin that was supposed to glow in the sunlight, but this person had gray skin that looked almost cracked and ready to fall off. Her eyes were milky white as if she was blind, but he knew better. The raven-haired bob cut that he was so used to seeing had become thin and greasy. She wore a torn and dirty version of the dress he last saw Maya in before her death.

 _"What's the matter, Tommy?"_ The standing corpse version of his sister asked with a tilt of her head, her voice now sounding close to the voice that used to comfort him during nightmares but that demonic tone was still there - probably to toy with him. _"I thought you want to see your big sister again."_

He shook his head as he slowly started to stand up, using the wall behind him as a support. "You're not real... No, you're not...!"

The thing's face turns into a frown as it began to near him. _"Why did you kill me, Tommy?!"_ She demanded in a high voice, the demonic side growing louder.

He could feel tears that weren't his won fall from his face. "I didn't-"

 _"Was I really that unimportant to you?!"_

"No!" At this point, he didn't care if this thing was his sister or not. "I didn't mean to kill you, Maya!"

 _"Why didn't you save me then, Tommy?"_ His "sister" continued, not satisfied with his answer. _"Why did you want me to die?!"_

"I didn't want you to die, Maya," he sobbed, reaching his hand out to the decayed version of his sister. "I swear..."

He only blinked for a moment and she was gone. No decayed sister blaming him for what happened to her. He was only reaching out to thin air.

He shook his head, this wasn't the first time those hallucinations of his sister would haunt him. Taunt him since he was technically the reason why she died. It was guilt he had to live with- even in the afterlife- for a long time. Which is why he needs to find that little girl and fast. He wants to see his sister so badly and maybe she will finally forgive him for killing her.

He turned around to make his way down the hall only to nearly walk right into his decayed sister. He yelped and fell down once again, his eyes never leaving the ghastly version of his sister. "No... Please, no..."

Then a terrifying thing happened; Maya reached up to grip her hairline and literally pulled off all the skin. Thus, revealing the skeletal face that's hidden underneath layers of muscle, her dead eyes that were wide before now looked ready to fall off her head. A creepy smile formed on her rotten, yellow teeth.

 _"Is this what you want?"_ She took a menacing step closer, making him screamed.

"Get away from me! GET AWAY!" He tried to crawl away, but the horrifying version of his sister only got closer. "Leave me alone! Why are you doing this me?! Why?!"

 _"Why didn't you save me, Tommy?"_ Her voice echoed within his mind and he tried to cover his ears to ignore it, but it didn't work. _"Why did you want me to die?!"_

"Shut _up_!"

He didn't realize he had thrown the scissors until he heard the _clang_. He whipped his head up to see the wall his sister was previously standing in front of had been punctured by the scissors. Maya was nowhere to be found.

He had to wait for a moment to catch his breath. He looked around, expecting his corpse sister to pop at him once again. After making sure it was safe and he was breathing normally again, he made his way over to the wall and yank the scissors right out. He slowly turned them over so he could stare at his reflection. No, it wasn't his reflection. It was a reflection he stole from someone. Someone who was still currently screaming at him to stop all this madness.

But he couldn't. Not when he was so close.

It didn't mean that his guilt won't stop slowing him down, though.

He could feel tears trail down his cheeks once again before a sob escapes his throat. It was only when he fell to the floor with his back up against the wall that more of his sobs escape his throat. To make matters worse, he heard his sister's voice again.

 _"Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques. Dormez-vous?  
Dormez-Vous?  
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!  
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong."_

It was the lullaby that Maya used to sing to him when he had nightmares. He remembered how it always used to soothe him when he heard his sister's voice singing that song. But hearing it now, listening to his sister's voice using the same tone she used to use didn't bring him any sort of comfort at all. It only brought the guilt back ten fold.

Why couldn't he do anything right?

"Ash?"

* * *

When Bonnie walked through the door to get into another area in the house, she didn't expect to find her raven-haired up against the wall beside the door she had just walked through. His head buried within his knees as he seemed to sob his heart out. Although she was slightly concerned about the scissors, it didn't stop her from taking a step closer to her friend.

"Ash?"

His whole body stiffen the moment those words left her lips. She immediately regretted saying that when Ash slowly turned his head to face hers and she found herself staring into two blank ambers. This wasn't Ash at all.

When he slowly began to stand up, Bonnie took this as her cue to run.

She immediately bolts through the door she had previously come through but not without slamming the door shut behind her. As she ran through the dark hall, she could have sworn she heard someone breaking through the door behind her.


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N:** **I'm back! I'm very sorry for not uploading for a very long time. This is usually one of the reasons why I try to avoid doing multiple stories at once, but then I can also probably blame High School and my needs to watch a YouTube series online. So, yeah. Anyway, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for!**

 **Ritsu: Thank you so much! Don't worry, it wasn't writer's block. Just my stupid procrastinating habit for entertainment.**

 **Juster of Rivia: Yeah, not your everyday serial killer.**

* * *

Bonnie had wanted to scream at one point during this whole chase. There were a few times where Ash would almost grab her but she was able to avoid him by making sharp turns to catch him off guard. The fact she knew that he had a weapon on him should make her scream at some point. But she didn't. She didn't scream the whole way through. Because she was practically fighting for her life right now so she couldn't find the time to scream like a little girl - even though she technically was one.

She urged her legs to run faster when she heard the running steps behind her get closer, Dedenne and Squishy - who had both jumped out of her satchel at one point - were right by her side, trying to keep up with her pace. They were all quite surprised they hadn't collapsed from exhaustion yet. Then again, that would probably be Clemont if he were in their position.

The three eventually found themselves on a fork within their path; there were two hallways that lead to different sections of the house. They had to pick which side they would go down and hope for the best that they weren't running down a dead end. But Bonnie, somehow growing as paranoid as her brother, tried to look at where each path would take them, not willing herself to take the risk of acting on instinct when her life was practically on the line.

But upon hearing the footsteps getting too close for comfort, Bonnie knew she had to make a choice and fast.

She made her decision at the last second and quickly did a sharp turn towards the left path before Ash could grab her. The possessed boy nearly stumbled once he realized he caught nothing but thin air. Even so, he was able to regain his balance and continue the pursuit after the young girl.

It appears that Bonnie did pick a right path since she saw a door at the end of the hallway she was running down. She instantly began to feel relief go through her exhausted body before a thought entered her mind; what if it was locked? That the murderer must have gone through here before finding her and locked most of the doors in case she came through here as well so he was able to keep her from running. What if she was actually running into a dead end like the murderer wanted her to?

However, the closer she was to the door Bonnie realized she was going have to take the risk. She immediately closed her little fingers around the doorknob and gave it a twist.

The door opened with ease - thank goodness - and now Bonnie knew she didn't have much to worry about anymore.

She went through the other side and slammed the door shut as soon as she did. Thankfully, there was a lock that didn't require a key so she was able to slide it in place. The door then shook when Ash accidently slammed into it on the other side, not expecting it to be locked so suddenly. She had to move back when Ash slammed the door once again, causing the whole thing to rattle. If she were to let this continue, then Ash would be able to break down the door like he did when she first encountered him alone.

A drawer that was a little over her size caught her attention on her right. It looked heavy enough. Maybe she could use that.

She runs over to the drawer and grips the edges tightly with her fingers. Using her legs to push, Bonnie brought the drawer over to the door until it was practically in front of the rumbling door. She watched as her own barricade managed to stop the door from moving so much and how it only seemed to anger Ash more as she could hear him screaming from the other side.

But she didn't take the time to dwell on it for long as she turned tail and ran down the hall with all the strength her legs had left in them.

After making sure she was far enough away from that door, Bonnie finally took the moment to rest her legs. She places her hands on her knees as she took deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

"Oh boy," she gasps out. "I thought we were goners there for a second, you guys."

No response from her Pokémon.

She looked down at her side, confused on why Dedenne nor Squishy were talking to her when she realized they were nowhere to be seen.

They must have run down the right path when they reached that fork. Now, she's all alone.

* * *

Clemont wasn't sure how long he was walking down the pathway he was previously using to run away from his possessed friend. Some part of him had told him that he shouldn't have let Ash alone to deal with the murderer inside him - he knew how exhausted he must be after that incident in the hallway with Serena and, apparently, fighting back was causing him a lot of strain as well - but the logical side told him that it was for the best; even if Ash did find the strength to fight against the possession it looked like he couldn't win the battle but only be able to delay the murderer for some time to give his friends the chance to escape. He should feel grateful that Ash saved his life despite all the torment he's been through.

It didn't mean he couldn't shake the image of Ash's terrified and strained face as he screamed at him to leave him.

He tried to not focus on how Ash looked from that whole encounter, but rather what he had said. What did he mean by "them"? He was pretty sure that there was one murderer running around the Lewis Manor. Was there another one? If dealing with one psycho murderer inside his best friend was bad enough, they all have to deal with _two_ of them? He didn't even want to imagine what Ash was going through with practically three personalities going through his brain.

 _Clang!_

Clemont screamed when something nearly smacked his face with such force that when it ended up smashing into the wall beside him it left a visible dent on it. Better the wall than his head.

"Clemont?"

The young genius forgot about his near-death experience when he heard a voice he hadn't heard in quite a while. Digging through his pocket until he could find his flashlight, Clemont pulled it out and flipped it on to see light exploding on the faces of Serena and Pikachu - who both winced when the harsh light was suddenly on their faces.

"Serena!" Clemont immediately brought the honey-blonde into a hug before he pulled away to look her over. "Are you okay? The last time I saw you, you and Pikachu fell down a hole!" He looked down at her bandaged ankle. "And what happened to your ankle?"

"Broke it after I landed on it wrong during that fall," she answered him before she noticed the rope burns around his neck. "What happened to your neck?!"

Clemont sheepishly rubbed the spot where the rope nearly took his life. "Uh, your warning about Ash being possessed by the murderer didn't exactly go through as quickly as you hoped for, Serena."

Serena's eyes widen once she remembers what she needed to tell the others. "Clemont, there's something you need to know about the murderer-"

"Nene!"

"Blurp!"

Serena didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence when the cries of two familiar Pokémon filled their ears. Clemont shines his flashlight over to where he and Serena heard the voices and were greeted by the sight of Dedenne and Squishy staring up at them with wide eyes.

"Dedenne! Squishy!" Clemont shouted in realization as the two Pokémon quickly hurried over to them.

It was then Serena noticed somebody missing. "Wait, where's B-?"

She was cut off by a scream that tore through the halls of the Lewis Manor.

* * *

Bonnie had no idea where she was going. As long as she doesn't go back into the direction she came from where her possessed friend was probably waiting for her, she'll be fine. Well, she hopes so. She's watched enough old horror movies with the others to know that places like the Lewis Manor have tons of secret passageways that only the killer would know. She's practically praying right now that she isn't one of those unlucky victims that fall victim to the killer when they become separated from everyone else.

Although, with her luck, Bonnie could tell things aren't going to go her way anytime soon.

The moment she reached the bottom of the staircase she was previously going down she was meet with dim-lighting from the torches that were hung up on the walls. She wondered if she reached the lowest part of the house. If she did, then that would mean there was a likely chance for her to meet up with Serena and Pikachu.

That would be good. In a horror movie, it's always a bad idea to split up from the group.

Then again, she wasn't in a movie. This was real life and all of their lives were practically in danger.

Still, give her credit for hoping.

She ventured further down the hall until she finally spotted a door. It was probably over her size but she was still able to reach the doorknob. That was good enough for her. She reached her small hand over to the knob and gave it a twist.

It didn't move. It was locked.

She wanted to shout Clemont's versions of curse words but she thought better of it; if she were to yell then she would alerting the murderer where she was and she couldn't do that. Not when she was alone and completely defenseless.

Guess she would have to find another way to find her friends.

Before Bonnie could turn around and continue her way down the path a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

* * *

 **Oh, look at that. Another cliffhanger for all of you guys to be torture by. Wahoo. But there's some news, though. This story is about to come to an end in a few chapters. So it's almost over and no more cliffhangers to torture you.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Good news for everyone, I've decided to put my other story on hold since this story is the closest to get done so I probably will update like I used too before. Can't make promises, though. But I _will_ live up to my word.**

 **Juster of Rivia: Yep, that's one pretty determine killer.**

 **Ritsu: Honestly not sure how I should respond to that. But you still got a few more chapters to go before the ending.**

 **Alex Ho: Sorry! For ending it in a while and not updating it fast not enough!**

 **Sapphiria: Really? Joltie mentioned me? I haven't talk to them in a while... Well, I can say Possession is something that always fascinated me so I can't really help but write it. I'm really glad you're enjoying this and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **StreetRacer-Sam: The climax is coming in a few chapters. And the reason why I was taking so long was because I was trying to write both of my stories separately. Really? What's your wish?**

 **writergirl142: Don't worry! It's here now! :)**

* * *

Bonnie would have liked to think she put up a struggle again her possessed friend instead of just acting like a scared little girl that would cry for help when she's terrified. But she did scream. She screamed for her brother to come help her. But he didn't. He didn't come to rescue her since he was probably far away from where she was.

She had thought about fighting back at one point by biting down on Ash's hand when he put his other hand over her mouth to keep her in place and from screaming. But she realized that what Ash put over her mouth wasn't his hand, it was a breather.

And it was filled with knockout gas.

Her vision blurred as her brain succumbed to the gas that was filling her lungs. The will to fight that was previously there had left her as her muscles relaxed. She had forgotten that she was in a life-death situation and she was in the hands of a murderer possessing her friend's body. She let her legs go as somebody seemed to keep her upper body hoisted. Why are they holding her up? Don't they realize that she just wants to rest?

She could've sworn she heard someone saying something before she blacked out completely. Somewhere along the lines of "I'm so sorry," but she couldn't hear it clearly. Oh well, as long as she can get some shut eyes she didn't care what the person was saying.

That was when she woke up and found herself tied to a table in what looks to be one of those weird mad scientist labs. Well, to her it was like a scientist lab since the table she was felt like one of those dissection tables. The fact her arms and legs were tied apart from each other made her feel like one of those weird creatures from the Continents.

She tried to pull on the ropes to see if the murderer got lazy and didn't tie them the whole way. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side as the ropes tighten around her limbs when she tried pulled them away. Not to mention the fact she was lying down with both of her arms stretched apart so she was in no position to get out of these ropes herself.

Why do survival horror movies make freeing themselves from rope look so easy?

Right, it was because they had some form of a sharp object with them or they can get to like a knife or a nail sticking out of a wall. Both objects seem out of the question; her brother would have a fit if he found her holding a knife and would often forbid her from going near one so she didn't have any exact experience with one, not to mention she couldn't even _move_ to find a loose piece of nail.

She was basically a sitting Psyduck.

Sounds of footsteps approaching her had, thankfully, got her mind off her sad predicament. She was so loopy from that knockout gas she wasn't thinking straight. So, the first people that came to mind were Serena and Clemont coming to rescue her. But when she gazed upon a pair of dull amber orbs, Bonnie knew that the person that stood over her wasn't there to save her. Especially since she didn't like the way he was holding those scissors.

"Ash...?" She drawled out.

Ash didn't say anything. He just reached over with the scissors in hand.

Bonnie began to tug on the ropes. "Hey, wait! Please don't kill-!"

 _Snip._

The young girl's eyes widen when she heard the sound of scissors slicing through something but feeling no pain. She didn't even know what that lifted weight from her head was until she saw Ash move away with her ponytail in hand.

"Hey, that's my hair!"

He didn't say anything as he moved over to a drawer on her left. She did her best to burn a hole into his back while he did something with her hair, but she couldn't tell since his back was facing her. But she could tell he was doing something since his arms were moving.

"Are you the murderer of the Lewis Manor?" He didn't respond, but she's going to take that as a "yes" since his shoulders suddenly tensed. "Well, you're a big meanie! You know that? Why would you kill all those people?!" No response. "Don't you feel guilty? I mean, you _killed_ a couple of kids! What did Tommy Lewis ever do to you?" Nothing. "Well, what about Maya Lewis? I bet you didn't even blink when you killed her!"

He moved so suddenly Bonnie didn't have to react. What she could do was screamed when the scissors came dangerously close to her face. She looked up with fear in her eyes to meet the dull eyes that were surprisingly full of rage.

"If you think," although it was Ash's voice, it wasn't familiar in her ears at all since she has never heard Ash sound so dangerous before. "That I actually _enjoyed_ watching my sister die right before my eyes because of a mistake that _I_ made, you're going to die by choking on your own blood after I cut off your tongue!"

With that said, Ash had moved the scissors away from her and returned his previous position by the drawer.

It took a few seconds for what he said to sink into Bonnie's terrified brain. "Wait, are you saying-? Are _you_ Tommy Lewis?"

He didn't say anything but he didn't need too. His words were already out in the open and it was no doubt that Bonnie wasn't imagining that from that knockout gas.

"You are!" Her face suddenly turned into a frown. "So, you were the one who started to kill everyone? I don't get it; why would you do that? A-And your sister, what happened to her? How did the two of you die?"

"I didn't want to live without my sister," he said simply, finishing putting the girl's hair into a braid. He then curled it up and kept it in place with a couple of pins. After he was done he opened the drawer in front of him to reveal the rows of different colored hairs. All of them were from his previous victims that played an important part of his plan. He would always take a piece of their after he captured or killed them since he remembered how much Maya loved having her hair braided right before she cut it.

He shook his head out of those thoughts before he placed Bonnie's hair within the row and closed the drawer.

Bonnie gave him a sad look. "I guess I can understand that," she admitted. "I can't imagine my life without my older brother..."

She could hear him scoffing. "If that's true, why did you leave him to die?"

"Hey, if I were to stay behind then we both be dead! If they were any other options where you didn't stab Greninja - which, I bet, Ash is giving you a _really_ hard time for but you practically deserved it since that's his Pokémon - I would have picked it rather than to leave my brother all alone with you! Well, him and Ash all alone with you. You get the idea!" Bonnie shouted offensively.

When he turned around Bonnie was actually surprised when she found him smirking at her. "And why am I bad company?" He asked as he neared her, no longer carrying the scissors but a scooper. The way he was holding the instrument made Bonnie fidget a little.

"Well, you did kill a lot of people over the years," she pointed out before a horrible thought crossed her mind. "Wait, did you killed him?!" The thought of seeing her brother's lifeless eyes while he laid in a pool of his own blood made her heart stop.

Ash smirked as he clicked the scooper. "Oh, don't worry. He's alive," this made Bonnie sighed in relief. "But I can't say the same thing for you."

"Wait, what-?!" Bonnie screamed when Ash raised the scooper over his head with clear intentions of ending of her life with those sharp edges. The moment she saw the scooper falling towards her left eye Bonnie knew her fate was sealed.

Or it would've been if the scooper didn't stop just mere inches above her.

Bonnie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in as she felt her heart pounding right behind her chest. Never before through their entire journey had Bonnie saw her whole life flash the way it did. It left a dreadfully cold feeling in her veins that probably won't go away for a long while.

Sounds of groaning brought her attention back to Ash, who looked torn between bringing the scooper down on her or lift it from her face. She could tell it was a constant struggle from the way Ash's arms shook with the extreme effort to not bring it down on her. When she looked up to meet his eyes she was surprised to find a familiar spark within the cold eyes while a stream of tears flows down his cheeks.

"B-Bonnie..." Ash's voice came out hoarser than she has ever heard him before - not even the time he was sick was his voice like this, showing how hard he was fighting to not let the inner evil win and end her life right there and then. "P-Please tell me you can get out of there!"

Bonnie did try to pull on the ropes that bound her to the table in some hope of freeing herself. Same as before, her efforts proved to in vain since the ropes didn't budge. She was trapped and her entire life was depending on Ash winning his inner battle. However, from the way the scooper was slowly moving closer to her eye, she knew that Ash was losing this battle.

"I can't get out, Ash," she tells him, making the waterworks go down faster than they were before.

"I-I'm sorry, B-Bonnie," he gasped out, one of his eyes looking like it wanted to roll back into his head but was fighting against it.

She nodded her head while closing her eyes. "I'm sorry too, Ash."

And she meant that; she didn't exactly help him convinced the others that he was being attacked by ghosts even when she was a huge believer in the supernatural, not to mention she wasn't very understanding of Ash's pain for never having a father in his life. She should have realized it must have destroyed him to have someone say he was the direct reason his father left him and his mother when he was very young, and that gave Tommy Lewis the chance to latch onto him.

She was pretty much involved like the others for causing the pain Ash was currently in, but yet Ash still found the willpower to spare her life for a few moments. That proved how much of better person he was.

Yet, the sadistic ghost kid was able to overpower him and now he was about to cut that small piece of thread that was holding her life in place.

She really wished there was a better way to die.

"Hey!"

 _Smack!_

The sound of metal colliding with flesh caused her eyes to fly open. When she realized there wasn't a scooper hovering dangerously close to her anymore she knew she was no longer hanging by a thread. She was saved. She wasn't going to die. She was going to live in this crazy house. That made the tears fall from her eyes for the first time ever.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: Regular updates are _slowly_ returning. Which kind of helps since I'm now focusing all of my attention onto this story and with the fact it's almost done. I think I might get it done on chapter 24 or 25, I don't really know. But I'm really doing my best! Also, good news, vacation for me! Which means more time to write!**

 **Sapphiria: When has it not? Well, regarding it on Fanfiction, not sure. Regarding it on other websites... ;) Don't worry, Bonnie and Ash will make it through this horrible night. You sure he's mind is not already broken? :) Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **writergirl142: I guess you will have to read the chapter and find out. ;)**

 **Alex Ho: Don't worry, it's going to come up in a couple of chapters.**

* * *

The moment she saw the possessed Ash hesitate from stabbing a tied up and sobbing Bonnie in the eye, Serena took this as her chance to run into the room with her weapon in hand. She didn't care even if this was Ash's body and that the boy she loves may be in control right now, she couldn't hold back anymore; Ash might be in control for now, who knows how long that last? She almost reconsiders hitting him when she saw the absolute strain on his face as he tried so hard the forces that were controlling - add that to all the emotional pain he's been through tonight, this was a very tough battle.

But she had to save Bonnie. Angry at her or not, she knew Ash would want her to save their friend over trying to ease his own pain.

Which was why she was building up the momentum in her arms when she reached the possessed boy's side.

"Hey!"

When Ash's dull eyes met hers she knew what she had to do.

 _Smack!_

The way the aluminum shovel sounded when it made contact with Ash's skull made Serena wince slightly as the boy fell to the ground with a heavy _thud_. She prayed that she didn't accidently break his head and his neck with the shovel but she didn't have time to focus on Ash right now because Bonnie was still sobbing and tied up next to her.

"Bonnie!" She threw the shovel to the ground near Ash and immediately began to work on the ropes. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Apparently Bonnie was in her own little world after her near-death experience since she didn't seem to notice the older girl until she was talking to her. The young girl's blue eyes slowly focus on her honey blonde above her. "S-Serena?" The older girl's heart broke at how tired Bonnie sounded, not to mention the way her hair looks now that it was cut off made Bonnie look like she's been through the Underworld and back. It made Serena sick to the bone.

"B...Bon...Bonnie..."

Serena winced once she hears Clemont's exhausted voice coming from the door - in her desperate attempt to find Bonnie after hearing her screams echo off the walls, Serena had forgotten that Clemont was not a very good runner so she must have left him behind with the Pokémon. Good thing she had already tied the ropes off of Bonnie's limbs when she saw his heaving figure walking right into the room - the Pokémon trailing behind in case he might collapse - because Serena did not want Clemont to hyperventilate now out of all times.

"Clemont, over here!" Serena calls him over while she helps a sobbing Bonnie sit up. The moment his eyes landed on his sister's shivering form, Clemont forgot all about being tired and immediately goes over to his sister's side.

It only took just one hand to her back that Bonnie launch herself into her brothers and sob heart out into his chest. This was far from the sassy girl who would make a witty remark to bad guys that they know so well. Then again, to think that their best friend would even consider killing them - even though they know it was completely against his will - was enough to send a chill down their spines. Maybe Bonnie just has a different reaction to all of this than they originally thought.

Clemont took a side glance towards the unconscious Ash besides them. "Is he...?"

"He's alright," Serena said quickly, even though she wasn't entirely sure herself. "Just knocked out."

He looked a little relieved at that and Serena could finally feel the same when she took a closer at the unconscious boy and saw that his neck wasn't at an odd angle. Which was good, because of some part of her mind - that rare, spur of the moment type of mind - believed that if Ash were to die, Tommy would be forced out of his body and probably kill them all by using those weird ghost powers. Having him unconscious was probably for their survival since it seems like Tommy becomes unconscious as well. That was good, for now.

"H-He saved me," hearing Bonnie's stuttering draws the older children's attention to her. "A-Ash, he saved me. He was fighting Tommy and he stopped it."

"Tommy? As in, 'Thomas Lewis?' One of the first victims of the Lewis Manor?" Oh, right - Serena didn't get the chance to tell Clemont that the spirit possessing Ash was not only the murderer of the Lewis Manor but was also, technically, one of the first victims since this whole mess started.

Before she could explain things to the blonde genius, a cough from below them caught their attention. They all turn their gazes to the ground where Ash laid unconscious - Pikachu was at his trainer's side to keep an eye on him while trying to find some comfort in his own way from seeing Ash like this - but they thought it wouldn't be that case for long since Ash was hacking up a storm. Worried, Serena quickly picked up the shovel and held it out in case that Ash wakes up and he's not Ash.

He turned his head to the side unexpectedly, expelling a murky black bile from his mouth. Then he became silent.

The three children stared at the strange bile in horror; Bonnie was worried that if that liquid was Ash's blood since that internal battle was possibly too much for him. Meanwhile, Clemont was staring wide-eyed at the liquid because he recognized it as the same substance on the pillow in Ash's room right when the raven-haired disappeared. For Serena, it made her think about to one of the pages that she found a while back on how physical beings were able to possess other physical beings by changing their form of matter and she knew that the substance in front of her wasn't Ash's blood.

It was a piece of the physical being Tommy must have used to possessed Ash.

* * *

They tied him after that.

It wasn't like they had any other choice; Ash wasn't alone in his body, they had no idea that when he wakes up it would be the boy that they know wouldn't harm a Pokémon in his life or a sadistic murderer ready to kill them on the spot with his own bare hands. It was safer for them if they bind their unconscious friend.

They just hoped that Ash would understand this whole situation when he wakes up.

After tying him up, they brought him back to his room in the upper floors - it was bad enough they had to tie him up, but leaving him on the floor while keeping a rope tied to a pole to prevent him from moving like one of those caged creatures from the Continents would just be downright cruel since he's already going through a horrible night - where they laid him down on his now-cleaned bed.

He almost looks a little peaceful. However, they knew he was anything but peaceful right now because of the killer in his head.

Serena decided to take the first watch - she gave the siblings the journal and the pages to understand the whole situation so they were in the Living Room to process all that new information regarding the Lewis Manor and the Lewis siblings, Pikachu was also there to keep things in order. As the honey blonde watched the boy she loves sleep away, she thought about everything that he went through this entire night.

Honestly, she was actually a little surprised that Ash even had the will fight after everything he's experienced. Serena figured that if it were her, she would have given up a while ago. It was easier that way. But then again, Ash never did anything easy, even when he's upset. She was secretly glad that Ash wasn't gone because she didn't like the idea of what remained of Ash would be a sadistic killer in his body.

But then a nagging part of her mind wondered; _was he fighting for me back at the elevator?_

When Serena had asked Clemont once again on what Ash did to him, the genius had told her that Ash had tried to hang him - just like how they found him in that closet - but he stopped and freed him before Clemont could suffocate. "You should have seen him, Serena," he told her gently. "It was like he was being torn into two, from the inside. Try to be gentle with him when he wakes up."

She promised she would - especially considering everything that happened - but some part of her wanted to know why he didn't rescue her when she was trapped in the elevator. Sure, he tried to warn her moments before but if it weren't for Pikachu she probably would have been dead. If Ash was able to save Clemont and Bonnie's lives, why didn't he try to do the same for her?

She already knew why; he was still angry at her.

Movements from the bed caught her attention. She looked up to see Ash turning his head slightly with eyebrows furrowed like he was going to wake up. The shovel was only a few feet away from her, maybe she should grab it just in case.

But when she caught sight of that familiar spark within his eyes, she knew that the person lying before her wasn't a sadistic child who doesn't blink when he kills a person.

"Ash?" She took a few steps closer to the bed, not entirely trusting her eyes but she remained hopeful. "Ash, is that you?"

His tired eyes drifted towards her and Serena finally let go of any doubt when she saw how exhausted they were. "S-Serena...?" Even his voice sounded like he was dying. It made Serena bit her lip as she sat down on the bed, wondering what she should say since she figured Ash wouldn't be in the best of moods - and she wasn't just talking about being possessed by a lunatic kid.

Apparently, he already found a way to start a conversation since he looked like he wanted to move his arms but he quickly realized that they were tied to his sides. His expression change from tiredness to acceptance as he slumps against the pillow. "You guys tied me up?"

"Sorry, Ash," her words had more than one meaning but she decided to stick with one. "We didn't know if it was going to be you when you woke up. We just had to make sure-"

"I get it, Serena," he interrupts her before she could finish. "Really, I do. I probably would have done the same."

 _Even though you wouldn't like it_ , Serena adds in mentally but she didn't dare say them out loud. She decided to get into a certain topic that she thought it would be best to address now instead of later. "Ash, listen... About what happened in the hallway before this whole mess started, I just wanted to-"

"Shut up, Serena."

The honey blonde stopped short and stared at the raven-haired boy, only now she noticed he wasn't only exhausted but looking annoyed as well. "What...?"

"I know what you're trying to say," Ash cut her off once again. "And I don't want to hear it. This place already messed me up and I'm not ready to talk about that. So please, just don't say anything about that."

Serena bit her lip; on one hand, she wanted to make things right with Ash before things could get any worse, but then she should have realized that she was probably the last person he would want to see after waking up from his nightmare. Not to mention she was actually the one who caused his nightmare in the first place by driving him over the edge. Maybe it should be for the best that she saves her apology for later.

"Okay..."

Things between them became silent after that. Well, not entirely silent since Ash was breathing deeply every now and then which made her wonder what was going on with him on the inside. She was slightly worried that Ash was secretly trying to fight off the entities inside him. But she then thought about how painful it usually was for him to do that so she decided to drop it. For a moment, at least.

"Have are you feeling?" She decided to ask after a moment of silence.

Ash shrugged his shoulders lazily. "Tired," he admits. "Wish I could fall back to sleep so I can rest for a while, but I think we can already imagine what that would be like for all of you if I wake up and I'm not me."

Despite the grim reality of his words, Serena did feel sort of better that Ash was trying to attempt a joke with her. It may be a good sign for her that Ash was slowly starting to forgive her. It was slow, but it's progress. Probably better how he would have reacted to seeing her moments after that incident.

"Where's everyone else?" Ash asked after noticing they were the only ones in the room. He would at least suspect Pikachu to be by his side.

"They're downstairs," she tells him. "I gave them Maya's diary to know what was happening. You do know who's-?"

"Yeah, I know who the murderer is," Ash interrupted. "Kind of figured that out when he and his wacky puppet possessed me a while ago."

Serena winced slightly at his sarcastic remark. "So, I guess you know why he's doing all of this?"

Ash's face softens at that. "Yeah, he wants to bring his sister back to life," he turns his head to the side. "I think he blames himself for what happened to her."

"Do you know how she died?" Her curiosity for what caused the older sibling's death has resurfaced.

Her mood deteriorates when she saw Ash shrugging helplessly. "I have no idea. But, I think Tommy may have accidently killed her. I don't know how, but he does feel guilty about it. That counts for something, right?"

Serena nods. "Yeah, I guess so," suddenly, an idea popped into her head like a light bulb flickering on. "Wait, that diary that I found was written by Maya Lewis," upon seeing Ash's confused expression, Serena continues. "Maya Lewis is dead, Ash, how would she be able to write in it so recently if she wasn't a ghost herself?"

A look of realization dawned on Ash's face. "So, does that mean she's in the house like all the other spirits?"

"Maybe if we find her, we can have her convince Tommy to let you go!" Serena's eyes shone with excitement. "We just need to find out where she is."

Ash, however, looked doubtful. "Serena, we don't even know where to look. This house is like a maze, even Tommy can't remember where everything is. What if we end up in a place where one of those ghosts attacks us?"

Serena was going to admit that it was a problem if they don't know where to look.

"Not only that, how do we even know Maya would want to help? I mean, I don't know what happened to her but all of the spirits that I've seen wanted to kill me. If Maya's spirit really did write that diary, how will we know she hasn't been corrupted since then?"

Now Serena was speechless; she'll admit, Maya did write in her journal that she wanted Tommy to stop all of this madness so that they can be together again. But that was a while ago and it looked like Maya hasn't touched that diary since then. Granted, she didn't know how long it took for those Murdered Victims to become corrupted for their lust for vengeance. That still didn't change the possibility of Maya having the bloodlust as of right now.

Serena shook her head. "I don't know what's happening to Maya right now, but that doesn't mean we can't try!" She shifted closer to him on the bed. "Ash, this whole mess started because I didn't believe you and I didn't handle you breaking down well because I didn't know what was going on. It's my fault that this is happening to you and I'm going to fix it! Even if I have to convince some crazy spirit to do it!"

For the first time since their encounter in the hallway, Ash actually looked at her like she was his friend again. She remembered how Ash couldn't even look at her after she yelled at him. Guess this was a good sign that Ash really was trying to forgive her.

However, the moment was ruined when Ash suddenly blanched. "S-Serena..."

"Ash?" He began to tremble with his eyes wide-open with panic. "Ash, what is it? Tell me what's wrong!"

His dulling eyes move to meet hers. "T-They're awake..."

Serena's own eyes widen in horror. Oh no...

"What do you want me to do?" She asked when Ash began to convulse, her own panic reaching her mind and she was now desperate to do anything for him.

"J-Just leave" upon seeing her surprised expression, Ash continued with a strained voice. "P-Please, I-I can't fight them off and worry about you at the same time. P-Please just go!"

Despite every instinct telling her to stay and comfort him, Serena felt her own feet move out of the room and into the hallway while shutting the door behind her. She told herself not to look back when she heard him crying out from behind the door and kept moving her legs forward.

After all, if she did look back she would have barged into the room to find some way to help Ash.


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: AH! You guys would not believe the struggle I had with the second-to-last chapter! I exit the chapter so I can get to my editor, but then I realized it didn't save all the progress I had so I had to rewrite it all back! The next thing was that when I was about to publish it. For some reason, my main computer is having a problem with DeviantArt and I couldn't publish the darn thing. So, that was my day today. But good news, one more chapter left for me to do and I'm going to be posting the rest of the chapters on Saturday after the epilogue! Wahoo!**

 **thor94: Don't worry, you'll get to see Ash being torture in the next chapter. That's a promise.**

 **Alex Ho: Thank you! I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Ritsu: Oh, thank you very much! I guess I can understand your point because I can't help but see the traits you described in some of the fanfiction I read and that's not how I exactly view Serena. She's not the type of person who I imagined to be expressive on being upset that she didn't get what she wanted, mostly because I know she truly does love Ash and that she admires and respect him very much so to put his own needs before her. Besides, that's how I view someone's love to another; they be willing to give everything up for the person you love. And who said Bonnie was out of the danger zone? ;)**

 **Sapphiria: XD Well, if I ever do make an announcement on the series, you'll be the first to know. ;) Um, I don't really think so. Mostly because of two reasons; I never actually imagined Serena to be someone that gets possessed. The reason why I had Ash be the unlucky person because its easier to imagine him to be possessed, you can blame Hoopa and Pokélantis for imprinting that in my mind. The second reason was when I first started with the concept of _The Thing_ , I never imagined it to be a connected story. Mostly because its horror and most of the elements that I wanted for my first horror are already there so... *Shrugs***

* * *

Serena walked down the grand staircase, doing her best just to focus on the way her feet moved and not on the sound of Ash screaming behind her. No matter how bad she wanted to stay and help him, she knew that the best way she can help him was finding Maya Lewis and have her convince Tommy to leave Ash and let them free from this horrid house. But she decided to tell the others of what her plan was - she knows enough from horror movies that she should never stray far from the group when there's ghost in the house.

When she arrived at the living room she was greeted by the sight of Clemont comforting a shaken Bonnie.

"Now, Bonnie, it's going to be okay," the older sibling said softly.

"He's suffering, Clemont!" Bonnie cried, looking more like a little girl that the older kids have ever seen. "We didn't believe him and now he's suffering because of us! He probably hates us for everything we've done to him!"

"Bonnie, you know that's not true!" Clemont told her sternly. "No matter what, Ash would never bring himself to hate anybody. Besides, you said he saved you right?"

She sniffed. "Y-Yeah..."

"So that means he doesn't hate you, Bonnie! If he really did blame you for everything that happened why would he want to help you?"

"B-Because he still cares..."

"That's right! If he were here right now, I bet he would tell you himself that he doesn't blame you for everything that's happening to him."

Although those words were meant to make Bonnie feel better about the whole situation, it only made Serena feel worse about herself because she knew that Ash did blame her for what's happening to him; she drove Ash passed his sanity line and he became vulnerable to possession. She wondered if Ash was silently blaming her for the pain he's going through right now.

"Serena, we didn't see you there," she looked up when the siblings finally noticed her. "How's Ash?" Clemont asked.

She shrugs helplessly. "Well, he was awake. But then, Tommy came back and he wasn't really the person I wanted to talk to." She decided to leave out the fact that Ash was currently fighting for control as they speak, they already have enough on their plates for right now and there wasn't much they could do for Ash right now until she tells them her plan.

Her words brought Bonnie's mood down. "So, is there really nothing we can do for him?"

This gave Serena the chance she was looking for. "Actually, I think I know a way we can help."

So she explained everything regarding Maya Lewis; like how her own spirit could possibly be roaming the house just like any other spirits that were trapped within the household and how she may be the only person that Tommy would be willing to listen to because she's the reason he's doing all of this in the first place. Her words were enough to make Clemont rub his chin in thought.

"I'll admit, that does sound like a good idea," he said after a while. "However, I do see some flaws in your plan; how do we know Maya would be willing to help? You saw what happened with Ash when he encountered all the other spirits and it has been a long time - from what I could see - since Maya wrote that diary. How can we be sure if she hasn't been corrupted since then? Not to mention we don't even know where to look for her since this place is like a gigantic maze!"

Hearing all of this made Serena's own mood deflate; those were the exact same words that Ash told her when she first gave out her plan. Some part of her thought that if she had other people to agree with her plan then she would have the "okay" to go through with it. But if other people think it's too risky then she knew she shouldn't do it without risking the lives of her friends.

Clemont must have sensed her mood and leaned closer to whisper, "I really do think it's a good idea but Bonnie's already scared enough as it is. What if Maya turned into those ghosts that Ash encountered? You saw what happened to him, imagine what Bonnie would be like if she encounters one of those spirits."

Oh... What in the world was she thinking? She should have known that it would be a bad idea to encounter a ghost - even if it was Maya Lewis - after seeing what it put Ash through moments before he was possessed. She tried to imagine Bonnie in Ash's place and was immediately disgusted with herself. She couldn't risk Bonnie's well-being for Ash's freedom, Ash wouldn't want her too.

"So, there really is no way we can help Ash?" Serena couldn't help but ask herself even though the others heard it, her hopeless attitude made her miss the uncomfortable look in Clemont's eyes.

"Actually, I do have one possible solution to this problem," his words brought suspicious attention from the girls.

"Hey, since when were _you_ have been an expert on ghosts?" Bonnie asked accusingly. She knew her brother was far from a believer, often telling her to not let her head "get into the clouds" when she mentions ghosts, so what made him change his mind?

Her questions were answered when she saw Clemont pull out a familiar book that she hasn't seen in a long while.

Her eyes narrow. "Hey! Isn't that the book about ghosts dad was supposed to get me for my birthday?"

"I may or may not have snuck it away from him before he could put in the box," Clemont admits sheepishly but immediately become defensive when he saw the look his sister was giving him. "Don't look at me like that, Bonnie! How was I suppose to know ghosts were real and dad's support on your fascination for the supernatural was going a little too far for my liking?!"

"Why you-!"

"Guys!" The two siblings put their feud on hold when Serena's voice broke through it. "Can't this wait _after_ we free Ash from the evil spirit?"

Bonnie relented, though she was pouting while crossing her little arms - in a strange way, it was refreshing to know that Bonnie's sassy attitude was slowly returning from all the terror she's been through tonight.

Serena turned back to Clemont. "You were saying?"

He nodded before he opened the book and skimmed through a few pages before he got to the one he wanted. "After I confiscated this from dad, I'll admit, I did some reading on it just out of curiosity but I never imagine it to be extremely helpful until I saw Ash being the way that he was. I guess I owe dad an apology when I see him again..."

"Is there anything that can help us get Tommy out of Ash?" Serena asked as she took a step closer to look at the book more closely.

"Well, no," Clemont admits. "But I think I found a way to get rid of Tommy once and for all. The book says that if we were to find the body of Tommy Lewis, throw salt all over his bones and burn it, Tommy's spirit will be able to pass over and Ash will finally be release from him."

"Salt?" Serena asked. "I think I got some in my bag for cooking."

"That'll do, I also think I got a lighter in my backpack for lighting a fire at camp," Clemont's face then turns into a frown. "Although, I'm not sure if this plan will work since we have no idea if Tommy's body is even in the house and we can't exactly leave it either. But even if it is here, we've already been through almost the entirety of the house and we haven't seen a single body that looks like Tommy."

Serena would have agreed with him if her mind didn't turn to the locked door back in that torture room. At first, she thought it was just a supply closet full of weapons for Tommy to use as a way to kill his victims. However, some part or was curious about what was behind that door since Ash looked very uncomfortable going into the torture room before but at the time she thought it was because of the possibility of her finding Pikachu in the room. Maybe Ash was more worried about her finding something else in there?

"Actually, there's one place we haven't check yet," seeing the sibling's confused looks she continues. "Back in the room where we found you, Bonnie, there was this door in the back that I noticed when I was with Ash looking for Pikachu. It was locked so I couldn't figure out what was behind it. But Ash did seem pretty nervous about going into the room so I bet you Tommy's body must be behind that door."

Clemont took a moment to think through that. "The possibility of that being true is very likely, that I'll say." He admits before finally nodding. "Alright, I'll go with your idea, Serena."

"Me too!" Bonnie cried with her voice full of confidence. Something that made Serena smile herself once it began to fill her bloodstream.

Because she knows that one way or another, they're going to save Ash.

* * *

She saw them formulate their plan, it was sort of nice to see such fresh minds holding onto the hope that they can save their friend from _him_. Maybe if she had the same hope fifty years ago, she would have stopped this whole mess from happening to these children like it did with the others.

But she didn't.

Because she was a coward.

She was so afraid of confronting the person that she didn't recognize that she let the fact of her not being able to show herself physically take over. She let herself hid while he continues to kill anyone that he thought could help him. Why did she let herself do this to both of them?

Maybe it was because she didn't see him but the person who started all of this in the first place.

What did he have to be so trusting?

She was about to walk away from them when she heard it.

A scream.

Coming from the boy who's going through the worst of all of this.

She has seen the hosts fight back every now and then, but it never lasts and the host will eventually disappear, their bodies becoming empty shells of their former selves.

But this boy was still fighting back as hard as he could just to protect his friends but not without submitting himself to an endless amount of torture. She has never seen someone so willing to go through an agonizing experience even after everything he's been through. It made her admire the kid but hearing him scream like this made her draw the line in the sand.

She didn't care if she was going to face a monster that she's been hiding from for a long time, she was tired of being afraid.

But first, she needs to make a quick visit downstairs.


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N: I think we all know what this update means. Yep, I have officially finished _The Thing_. Which means we only have a couple of chapters left to go. I will be updating the rest of the chapters on Saturday, so you now guys won't have to worried about updates anymore. Feel sort of relieved that a little weight was lifted off my shoulders now, so I can finally focus on the others stories that I _really_ want to do. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **Guest: Oh, thank you so much! I hope you'll continue to get impress by the angst!**

 **Alex Ho: If you could see my face right now, I'd be doing a poker face. So, instead, I'll just give you this. 0_0**

 **Ritsu: *Laughs evilly* You should have realized by now I'm sadistic when it comes to suspense! I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Ash wished he never thought he understood pain at all. All that time thinking the pain of being the reason his father abandoned him was a complete mistake because at that point it felt like some sort of relief compared to the pain he was feeling right now. He wanted it to _stop_. He wanted everything to stop.

But he can't stop it. If he were to stop fighting, then they'll kill his friends. He couldn't let that happen. There was no way he could live with himself if that were to happen. That was why he kept fighting. Some part of him wishes that the pain that came from all the fighting wasn't so intense.

It was like that Psychic attack that held him in place hours before, only this was a hundred times worse. The pressure that's being used to hold him down absolutely devastated his muscles. It was like somebody placed a ten-foot tall block of concrete on him and left it there. It even hurt to twitch his fingers. When he was possessed before, the only pain he remembers about it was an overwhelming headache. Not unbearable body pain!

"P-Please," he manages to choke out when it finally became too much for him. "P-Please don't do this! I-I get that you blame yourself for your sister's death, b-but do you really think she wanted this?!"

He gasps when the pain was suddenly lifted from him. It was so sudden and it felt like the pain was reaching its maximum point it left Ash gasping for air in his lungs. What happened? Why did they stop?

But the idea of finally relaxing after going through agonizing pain manages to overcome his paranoid thoughts. He left himself rest against the bed while closing his eyes as he let his breathing calm down. And hadn't felt this relax since he was staying at the Pokémon Center with his friends before they went out and that blizzard hit.

Everything was alright back then.

"GAH!"

Ash didn't realize he had left a window open until it was too late.

Due to letting his guard down, Ash didn't have time to fully address the rising sensation in his throat. Now Ash will have to pay for his mistake because now he's staring at an arm covered in black goop that's coming out of his mouth

* * *

Getting the items they need to defeat Tommy was easy. Actually trying to get to the place where they believed Tommy's dead body resides was actually harder even though Serena basically knew where it was. It all started with them walking down the hallway that Bonnie used to get away from Ash. Things were silent until they heard it.

Gagging noises.

Shooting each other concerned looks, they quickly hid with their backs up against the corner, silently hoping that whoever's there won't see them.

But what they saw made the color drain from their faces.

Out of the darkness came a head floating in midair. That was all; no limbs, not even a body. Just a single head that looked like it was decapitated but the brain was still kept alive. Her bloodshot eyes were wide as the noises she made sounded like she was choking on water. Thankfully, she floated past them with no sign of seeing them in her path.

They all sigh in relief once they didn't hear anything after a while.

"Was that one of the victims?" Serena asked.

"Fleur Blanc, I believe," Clemont informs. "Apparently they found her head decapitated in one of the rooms but they never found the rest of her body after that."

That was enough to make Bonnie shudder. "Can we _please_ just go find Tommy's body and get out of here? I don't want to be inside in this creepy house anymore!"

The two older children couldn't agree with her more on that.

They eventually found themselves back at the torture room without another incident - thank goodness - though they found that piece of the physical being Tommy was using to possessed Ash was still on the ground where Ashe threw it up. Giving it a wary glance, the children turned their attention to the locked door in front of them.

"So, anyone got any ideas on how we're going to break in?" Bonnie asked like she's expecting something random about to happen.

Soon enough, Clemont was already charging towards the door with his lug nut wrench as a barbarian cry escapes his mouth. They girls quickly move out of the way as the lug nut wrench was slammed into the doorknob, completely dislodging it from the door and causing it to open very slightly.

While Serena and the Pokémon had looks of awe, Bonnie did not look impressed. "Well, that certainly won't cause attention to us."

They made their way through the room, actually surprised that there was a charged light bulb hanging over their heads to give them enough light to see their surroundings. The entire room looked like a dug in a cave that was made entirely by man. It even had a few wooden support beams trying to keep the place from collapsing.

In the middle of the room was a white sheet that people would use to cover a dead person. That fact that they see a strange lump underneath it only confirms their suspicions.

Serena was the first person to kneel down in front of the white sheet, her trembling hands reaching out to grip the edges of it so she wasn't actually touching the lump underneath the sheet. Taking a deep breath, Serena pulls the sheet off in a blink of an eye.

The sight before them was enough to make Bonnie yelp. Lying down the ground completely still was the body of Thomas Lewis. Despite being dead for a long time, it looked like his body was already starting to decompose. His skin was deathly gray and appeared to be a little cracked due to the fact all the color was drained from his face. What looks to be dried blood that was previously dripping from his mouth has now been clotted and was now staining his purple lips and decomposing chin. Even his previously white shirt, which was now a dirty yellow color, was stained with dried blood. But what really made Bonnie shriek was the knife implanted in his chest, right where the dried blood was in place.

It was the same knife that Tommy had used to kill himself with.

Serena could feel herself frowning; despite everything he's done to them she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the way his body was treated after death. Nothing could be worse than to leave someone's body like that with a weapon lodged into it.

She was about to remove the knife from his chest when she heard it; footsteps coming their way.

Once the dread began to flood their veins they immediately begin to look for a place to hide. The beams were too thin so the only place left for them was behind the door they came from. It may be cliché and the highest possible chance if the person heard them they would most likely look at that place first but it was the only thing they had.

"Hide!" Clemont whispered and they quickly crowded behind the open door, pressing their backs tight against the wall in order to make themselves less visible to the person that's slowly coming their way while their footsteps kept getting louder than they already were.

Finally, after long agonizing seconds, they saw the person that's been torturing them with their hidden appearance from behind the door.

Or better yet, the ghost that's been torturing them.

When they saw the person walk into the room, it didn't even take them a second to realize that they literally don't have a head on their shoulders. Judging by the torn up, bloody dress that came from the 1940s, this was one of the female victims of the Lewis Manor.

 _"You..."_ They held their breath once they heard a feminine and demonic voice talk at the same time but relaxed slightly when they realize that the spirit was talking to the corpse in front of her.

 _"Do you have any idea of what you've done?"_ She continues. _"My father... My mother... My siblings... They have no idea where I am. I can't even return to them because of you... You killed me, and for what? To be with your sister? Well, imagine what_ ** _my_** _siblings had to go through when I suddenly disappeared?! I bet your sister deserved what she got!"_

Before they could blink, the headless girl suddenly ripped the knife out from Tommy's chest and held it in the air.

 _"Just like you deserve_ ** _this you Monster_** _!"_

With that, she began to repeatedly stab Tommy's corpse over and over again. It was sort of painful to watch since this was technically being disrespectful to dead, even if the person in question was also dead as well. They were about to wait for the ghost's rampage out and hope that she would leave the room when they saw something appear into the room.

It was that piece of goop that Ash threw up a while ago.

Only it was alive, and moving at incredible speed towards the headless girl.

 _"W-What...?"_ She realized what was happening too late and already was that black goop was covering her feet and spreading over body quite fast.

 _"_ ** _NO!_** _"_ She desperately tried to claw the stuff off her, her voice breaking in some form of unexplained fear. In her attempt to get the stuff off of her, she accidently dropped the knife she was previously using to stab Tommy's corpse. _"_ ** _No! No! No! No! NOOO!_** _"_

In a blink of an eye, she was covered from head to toe in that black goop, causing her scream to grow louder and more agonizing than before, prompting Clemont to cover his sister's eyes. He never felt more relieved when he did because the screams suddenly turned silent, then suddenly the goop fell from her body.

Only there wasn't body left and a pile bones fell to the ground along with goop.

Serena did her best to not scream while Clemont held in his lunch.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, her brother's hands blocking her full view of what had happened to the headless girl.

Clemont swallowed as he slowly removed his hands from Bonnie's eyes. "T-That was Sachiko Kishinuma, the last victim before Tommy stopped his killing spree before we came along. Like Fleur Blanc, she was decapitated but they actually never found her head."

"Let's just burn up Tommy's body and get out of here!" Serena cries as she moves away from her position behind the door. Goodness, she's already panicking. Now she knows how Ash felt when he encountered those ghosts. The sooner they burn up Tommy's corpse then they can get away from this horrible place.

Clemont quickly joins her to bring out the match after Serena's pours the salt over the body. Bonnie stayed a few feet behind with the Pokémon but she was no longer standing behind the door as she watched the older children get to work. But before she could say something, she was immediately grabbed with cool, sharp metal against her skin.

"Serena! Clemont!"

The two older children whipped their heads around when they heard her scream and gasp at the sight right before them.


	24. Chapter 23

**A/N: Welcome to the second-to-last of _The Thing_! I can't believe I'm actually done with this story, I almost forgot to update it here on Fanfiction!**

 **Alex Ho: Yeah, some of my worst cliffhangers yet.**

* * *

Bonnie stood petrified as the knife remains dangerously above her neck. With his arms firmly around the little girl, Ash glared at the two children before him with the whites of his eyes - no longer were they seeing his dull, emotionless eyes but the sclera. The two stood frozen, afraid that even moving a centimeter will lead to Bonnie's death. Clemont didn't even remember the lighter he had previously lit to burn Tommy's corpse in his hand.

But Ash did and glared at it. "Drop it," he growled, removing the knife from Bonnies neck - making the young girl visibly relax - so he could point it at the lighter. Clemont's gaze immediately turns to the lighter in his hands and drops it without moment hesitation.

"It's down, Tommy," he tells Ash, bringing his hands up in a surrender position. "Please let my sister go."

Ash looks down at the trembling Bonnie in his arms before he turns back to them. "I'll let her go after I get my sister back."

"But to do that you'd have to kill her!" Serena argues. "Tommy, please! Do you _honestly_ want to do this? She's your age when you died!"

To her surprise, it did make him hesitant a little bit. The way Ash shifted his head towards Bonnie's direction, how his face showed discomfort at the sound of her whimpering. It never even occurred to her that _maybe_ Tommy might have had seconds thoughts through his whole ordeal. Perhaps killing wasn't his first option and tried, desperately, to find a different solution that wouldn't affect his morals before having no choice but to go down the homicide path.

However, what sympathy he had for Bonnie passed and he returned to glaring at them.

"Does it look like I care?" He growls, teeth bearing. "Did anyone care how old Maya was when she died? No! My sister's life was ripped away without her consent but now I can finally change that. She _will_ get to live her life the way she would have wanted before she died!"

His words had gave Serena an opening. "But that's the thing, Tommy; Maya doesn't want you to do all of this!"

This made him freeze completely. "W-What are you-?"

Realizing where Serena was going wit this, Clemont immediately dove into his pocket and pulled out the diary Serena had gave him. "Look at this, Tommy," he opened the book to a random page where Maya had written and showed it to Ash. "You recognize this writing, don't you? You've spent enough time with Maya to remember her handwriting, right?"

If he did recognize Maya's writing, he did a wonderful job at hiding it.

Clemont went to search for the page he wanted and quickly begins to read it once he found it: _"He wants to bring me back. He used Willy as his puppet to possess the strongest person in a group that would enter the house. He will chop off everyone's body parts and try to find the one that matches me. He's making me a new body. Stop this, Tommy. I don't want this,"_ he looked up at Ash with sincerity in his eyes. "See, Tommy? Your sister never wanted you to do any of this!"

"She's horrified, Tommy," Serena adds in. "She's been in the same house as you ever since she died and she watched you killed all those people. She wants you to stop all of this so you can be with her again. You said you would do anything for your sister, right?!"

Ash stood rigid there, trying to process everything that's been told. Meanwhile, Bonnie had notice that his grip on her was loosening ever so slightly. Maybe, if she were careful enough, she could slip out of his grasps without him noticing. She slowly started to lower herself when Ash's grip on her neck tightens enough to make her cry out but when the knife suddenly appears right in front of her it made her stop her shriek abruptly.

"You actually think I'm going to believe that pack of lies?!" Ash snarls at them. "I know you're an inventor, Clemont, so how should I know that you didn't used a machine to copy some letters you found in her handwriting?!"

They have to admit, for someone who died when they were eight-years-old, he was actually pretty smart for thinking that could've been their whole plan if Maya didn't actually wrote in her diary. The only problem was Maya _did_ write all of her diary entries but Tommy's in denial and doesn't want to believe that his sister actually saw him kill all of those people so ruthlessly.

"Tommy, I swear, I did not make this up," Clemont tells him sternly. "Maya Lewis actually did write in this diary!"

"You're _lying!_ " To their horror, Ash brings the knife out, ready to strike Bonnie with it. "I'm sick and tired of hearing you people telling what I should and shouldn't do! I'm going to get my sister back and I'm not letting anything stop me!"

"Tommy, don't!"

"Not my sister, please!"

But their words fell on death ears as Ash plunges the knife down.

"Stop!"

However, hearing that voice crying out of nowhere did make him stop. The knife was held at least an inch away from Bonnie's eye and the young girl could have sworn she just saw her whole life flash before eyes once again. Still, she slightly relaxed when the knife made no movement to go any further than it already has.

Ash, meanwhile, had become stiff. He recognized that voice from anywhere, but for over the past years it had become nothing but a deformed version of its former self, constantly blaming him for what happened to her. Now, though, the voice sounded just like what is was before her death.

He didn't notice Bonnie had managed to slip herself out of his hold and immediately ran over to Clemont's comforting arms while he slowly turns around to where he heard the voice. The knife slips from his grip and fell carelessly to the ground as his gaze lands on the figure standing in the doorway.

It was Maya Lewis.

Not the ghost of Maya Lewis. No, it was the body that Tommy had spent years trying to make for his deceased sister. Only, it wasn't lifeless anymore. It was alive, standing even as it stood before him. But what really unnerved them was how she had no eyes. In the place where her eyes should be were two holes filled with dried and clotted blood, showing that her eyes must had been gouged out a long time ago. It made Bonnie cover her own eyes as she thought of what would have been her if Ash did managed to stab her in the eye.

The body took a slow step closer to Ash, as if she was afraid that if she did any sudden movements he would snap. "Tommy..."

Ash slowly pointed at her with a trembling finger as his eyes grew wide with panic. "Y-You're not real..."

"I am real, Tommy," Maya tells him calmly as she took a few steps closer.

"No, you're NOT!" Ash yells at her, desperately trying to convince himself that this was a hallucination in front of him. "You're dead! Why won't you leave me alone?!"

"Thomas James Lewis, do I look like one of those horrible hallucinations the ghost that you made the deal with usually conjures up?!" Maya didn't yell at him per say, but she did use the same scolding tone that Clemont would usually use on Bonnie when she would refused to believe something that he said.

This made Ash falter; true, she did not look like the Maya that would usually torture him for killing her. That Maya looked like a walking corpse shell of what his sister used to look like before she died. Not to mention there were times where she would pull off her own rotting skin just to taunt him because that was what he "wanted". But never before had he hallucinate his sister as the body he was trying to make for Maya, it was always that corpse torturing him.

He slowly lowers his hand as he took a few steps closer himself. "M-Maya...?" His voice still held hesitation, not fully believe that the ghost of his sister was possessing the body he was making for her right there in front of him.

What really convinced him was the small smile Maya gave him as she held her arms out to him and said, "Come here and give me a hug, goofball..."

This made the tears fall as he ran into her arms and hug her with all the strength Ash's arms had left. Maya smiles softly as she strokes his head, though she did feel slightly uncomfortable since this was someone else's body that Tommy had apparently stolen from. Still, it didn't stop her from comforting him and he sobbed into her shoulder.

Meanwhile, the others watched the scene before them with softening expressions. While they knew it was a spirit of an eight-year-old boy occupying their friend's body, it did pulled the strings of their hearts when they saw Ash cried like that. It made them realize that both of the two brains were both tortured beyond repair and it made them feel sympathy for Tommy for the first time ever.

"I'm so sorry, Maya," Ash chokes out. "I swear, I never wanted you to die!"

"Tommy, it's okay!" Maya pulls him out in front of her so that she could stare at his white eyes. "You didn't know that the price you had to pay for bringing Willy to life was to give souls to the ghost. How could you have known that horrible ghost made Willy have the ability to suck out a person's soul?"

Now Maya's death made sense to Serena; she died from having her soul ripped out of her body when she made contact with this thing called Willy. It explains why no one could find any sort of illness or injuries in her body. She literally died by magic.

"But it still doesn't change the fact that you're dead because of me!" Ash argued, sniffing every now and then. "If I hadn't made that stupid deal then you would still be alive!"

"Tommy, look at me!" He did while wincing slightly when he saw her gouged out eyes. "Whatever horrible hallucinations that ghost put in your mind, don't believe them! Because I don't blame you for what happened to me."

This only made more tears sprout from his eyes as Ash cried. Everything seemed too good to be true; he thought that after all this time, Maya had hated him for killing her and it was the reason why she didn't try to contact him as a spirit. But he was wrong; Maya wasn't mad at him and now he knew for sure that the body he made for her has worked. Back as he stared into the gouged out eyes he knew that not everything was complete.

He just needs to get that little girl.

"Tommy, don't you think about it!" Maya tells him sternly as he made a go for Bonnie - which made the little girl flinch - but she grabbed him by his arm to prevent him from going any further. "You leave these poor kids alone!"

"But she's the only way you can finally get your life back!" Ash argued.

This made Maya sigh. "Tommy, I never wanted my life back. I wanted us to move on!"

Ash froze when he heard that. He turned his head towards Maya with confusion in his eyes. "W-What are you-?"

"Did you really think I wanted you to kill all of those just to bring me back?" Maya asked him rhetorically. "Tommy, I wanted us to _be_ together as spirits. To move on together. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this but I was afraid that you were so far into your killing spree you might have done something you'd regret under that ghost's influence, but I'm here. Come on, Tommy, do you _really_ want to murder people for the rest of your life?"

Ash looks down at his feet, unable to meet her gaze. Finally, he answered in a meek voice, "No..."

"So, why don't you get out of that poor boy and we can leave this crazy life?" Maya's voice was filled with mirth but her expression clearly told him what he needed to do in order for both of them to be at peace at last. By the look on Ash's face, he knew it too. But for some reason, he hesitated. Why was he hesitating now when he finally has his sister back?

Suddenly, he let out a sob. "I'm so sorry! For everything, Ash!"

Then he threw up.

It wasn't like the nearly digested food that usually comes up when someone vomits - although, if it were the case, they figured it would just be mostly water because Ash didn't even ate anything for a whole day - but it was gallons of that black liquid that Ash had previously thrown up. What was really disturbing was how it piled on top of each other like it was somewhat solidified enough to be able to do that. After what seemed like minutes flew by, Ash's body finally expelled all that horrible substance, making the boy fall to his knees in retaliation.

"Ash!" His friends were immediately by his side to make sure that he was alright. They didn't even notice Maya's makeshift body disappearing into thin air with Tommy's corpse doing the same thing. Not even the sudden weight release in the air that finally made them breathe easier got their attention. No, what got their attention was the pile of the black substance before them. After seeing the top looking like somebody with their eyes closed they couldn't help feel uneasy.

"Is it, dead?" Clemont hesitantly asked. He was responded with getting hit in the leg by his sister.

"Haven't you learned anything from horror movies, Clemont?!" The little girl demanded. "You never assume the monster is dead because it will spring back to life and attack you!"

Before Clemont could comment on that, he was cut off when Ash suddenly took the knife he had previously dropped and stabbed the pile with it. Once he was sure it was good in there, he let his grip slip.

His friends stared at him with jaw-dropped expressions.

Without looking up at them, he tells them in a tired voice, "I think it's dead now..."

He fell to his side after that.


	25. Epilogue

**A/N: This is it, guys. This is the final chapter for _The Thing_. It's finally here!**

 **Alex Ho: If you think that chapter made you cry, wait until you read this one.**

 **Infernal Fox: It was supposed to be crude humor but I can see why it's funny.**

* * *

When Ash woke up a few hours later in the day he didn't even bother to let his friends know that he was awake. They only found out by Pikachu noticing him sitting down on the grand staircase with his head resting on his knees while his eyes stare blankly ahead of him. He didn't respond when the Mouse Pokémon put his little paws on him to catch his attention.

It was afternoon by the time Ash woke up, which meant that by the time everything was over the sun had risen, bringing in the morning. To think that after staying nearly three days in the Lewis Manor they've been through a lot. While they knew of the Manor's horrible history they never thought of being the ones to survive the horrors and being the first people to solve the Lewis Siblings' deaths. It was a crazy thought that still left them speechless and unable to believe it themselves. But with the way Ash's looking right now, they knew they have to face reality.

Serena stood at the bottom of the staircase, looking up at the raven-haired boy from behind the railings. She was dressed in her winter clothes because they all agreed on leaving this place as soon as possible, for their own sanities' and Greninja's sake - the Ninja Pokémon still had a severe stab wound injury from Bonnie's prior knowledge so they need to get him to the Pokémon Center real soon. As the Lumiose siblings begin to put on their coats, Serena decided to be the one to tell Ash that they're leaving.

But here she was, standing at the bottom of the staircase with words dying in her throat.

"Pikachu?" The Electric-type's small voice was what caught her attention. She turned her head to stare at the soft black eyes staring up at her with her concern.

"I don't know what to do, Pikachu," she admits in a small voice so that Ash doesn't hear, which made Pikachu realize what they were talking about. "I mean, what should I even say to him?"

Pikachu shrugs but he gestures towards his trainer. He didn't know what she should say to his best friend after everything that happened but he did know that she _should_ say something now instead of prolonging it further. His expression told Serena everything she needed to know.

Serena takes a deep breath before she makes her way up the stairs to Ash. For every step that she took, her mind began to think about the things she should say. Her first thought was apologizing to him, but she knew that it will take more than saying "I'm sorry" to fix things between them.

If Ash noticed her sitting down next to him, he did a pretty good job pretending because he didn't even acknowledge her presence. His blank eyes - not the same blank eyes she saw hours before, thank goodness - were still staring off into the distance, only making things more difficult for Serena. What should she say to him? What could she say? What she said to him was completely uncalled for and she had no idea on how to make up for it. So what should she say when she basically told him that he was the reason his father abandoning him-

Wait, his father abandoned him...

"Did I ever told you about my father?" She found herself saying. Ash's eyes flicker towards her direction, which was a good sign to tell her that he was listening.

"No..." His voice came out croaky, still probably not use to having it back to himself.

"Well, he was actually a really great dad," Serena begins her tale. "He used to tell me stories, played with me in the backyard, helped me bake, and he would help me steal cookies so that Mom would never know which one of us stole it. He used to have this carefree attitude about life and always taught me to be open-minded about the things around me. He was the best Dad I could ever ask for."

Ash stared at her expectantly when she suddenly hesitated. "What happened then?"

She took a deep breath. "Before I met you, he suddenly got sick. Really sick. The doctors couldn't diagnose it so they had him sent to a hospital. I was so young back then, I didn't understand what was happening. I kept asking my mom why was my dad not playing with me anymore but she would never give me a good reason. Over time, I began to think he was being unfair and I got angry. It only got even worse when he died because I was at the Summer Camp when it happened. The fact I wasn't even there when he passed made me thought he left me behind. I didn't forgive him for years."

"But now?"

Serena finally looked at him in the eyes. "I'm not mad at him anymore."

"So, what are you trying to say?" Ash really didn't see the point of why Serena was telling him this, she knew that he was still angry with his own father and yet she's telling him how she forgave her own father after being angry at him for years. Whatever she was trying to do, it wasn't working.

"What I'm trying to say that it wasn't his fault that he left me," her words made Ash stop and she knew he finally understood what she was saying. "His illness was beyond his control yet I still blamed him for abandoning me. It took me a few years to realize that his illness wasn't his fault but I still didn't forgive him. But after hearing about your father, how he abandoned you on his own free-will, it made me realize that I had no right to be angry at my own father because it wasn't his choice. But you did have a right to be angry at your own father and I took me a while to finally realize this.

"Ash, I know I can never make up for what I said and I won't blame you if you don't forgive me, I just want you to know that I was wrong and I will regret it for every day of my life. Some part of me wished that things could go back to normal after all of this but they can't; I've ruined our friendship, haven't I?"

Serena felt like crying at this point but she didn't dare let her tears fall; the only one who should really be upset was Ash, considering everything he went through tonight. To be honest, if it were her, she probably would have forced herself into a semi-coma for a long time but it was amazing that Ash was still sitting up right now. She waited for him to say something, ready for any cruel words that Ash was planning for her.

"I guess I should say sorry too."

Those were not the words she was expecting.

"What?" She asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Ash, you don't have anything to be sorry for!"

"But I yelled at you," he protested. "I said you were a horrible friend and how I wished you weren't my friend. I never really meant them, Serena, but I was just sick and tired of everything I didn't realize what I said until it was too late. I probably deserved what you said."

"No you didn't, Ash!" Now it was her turn to protest. "Like you said; you were exhausted. You were traumatized by the things you saw and the only thing you could think about doing at the time was to lash out at the nearest thing. I was just the unlucky one who faced it. I should have reacted better and realized that you were traumatized by something, I guess I really was a horrible friend."

Ash shook his head. "But that didn't mean it stopped you from trying to help. Here I was, finding the willpower to save Pikachu, Clemont, and Bonnie's lives but when I saw you... With the scissors in my hand, I didn't even do anything. I saw you in trouble but yet I didn't even try to help you when you could have lost your life. What kind of friend lets his emotions hold him back from protecting his friend?! I should have done something instead of not doing anything! You probably would have been dead if it weren't for Pikachu!"

He sobbed into his knees after that. Serena wanted to hug him right there and then but she thought against it so she just rubbed his back in small circles to comfort him.

It was sort of nice to see him turning back into the old Ash she knew; the one who would never bring himself to hurt _any_ of his friends intentionally but if did, he would beat himself over it countless and countless of times again. To see that kind of person come back to Ash brought her little hope that he will make it through this.

"It's okay, Ash," she told him softly. "I can understand why you were angry at me. If someone said something like that to me, I would be angry at them too."

"It wasn't just what you said that I was mad at..."

Serena looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "What are you-? Well, what else were you mad at?"

"The fact that you were the one that said it," now it was Serena's turn to freeze. "We meet in camp when we were little kids then we found each other again years later and we began to travel together. You were so different from anybody that I'd ever traveled with and, it made me feel funny. It was actually a good funny. I like hanging around you and it everything was so much fun. You always supported me so I knew I could always count on you. But, when you said I'm the reason my father left me, bringing all that pain I've been trying to put down for years, I couldn't actually believe it. I didn't _want_ to be mad at you. That's the other reason why I was so upset, I was mad because I was mad at you."

In a way, Serena could understand what he meant; she was technically his best friend - maybe a little more, the back part of her mind tried to supplied, but she ignored it for Ash's sake - and this was Ash she was talking, he always had a hard time staying mad at his friends. It must have been extremely frustrating for him to stay mad at her when he had every right to be.

She didn't even realize Ash was crying once again until she heard him sobbing. Unable to help herself any longer, she reached over and pulled him into a hug. To her complete surprise, he didn't even hesitate to return it as he sobs into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Serena," he whispers brokenly.

"I'm sorry too, Ash," she says back without hesitation. She rubbed his back gently, sort of relieve things were slowly getting to normal between them.

She was well-aware of the two pairs of arms wrapping themselves around her and the trembling Ash, knowing that the siblings must have heard some of the conversation and were doing their best to comfort them. This whole incident had left a mark on each of them, leaving them affected for the rest of their lives. They all felt closer to each other since they all experienced the same horror that was brought by the Lewis Manor. They can all heal with each other.

They were going to be alright together.

* * *

The blizzard was over by the time Clemont pushed open the doors and they were met with outside world in what seemed like forever to them. Their eyes squinted in the bright light the snow produced from the sun, their eyes had already adjusted to the darkness in the Lewis Manor so the concept of bright light was foreign to their eyes now.

But they remember the familiar scent of fresh air in the cold winter breeze. The smell that would tell them that they can travel to anywhere they wanted to without anything trying to stop them.

They were all finally free.

They began to trudge through the snow, going the back the path where they came from since that's where the closest Pokémon Center was. They were only a few feet away from the Manor when one of them stop.

Ash couldn't help but turn to look back at the Manor that caused them all pain. Some part of him couldn't believe that they all made it and how it couldn't have been that easy. He was at least expecting one of the ghosts that were left in the house would come out and attack them due to their unstable minds. But they all left that house in one piece. Was it really over?

"Ash?" The raven-haired boy turned to see his friends have stopped when they notice that he wasn't following them. It was Serena that spoke, "Come on, Ash, let's get out of here..."

He finally relented and made his way back to his friends. Together, they trudge through the snow in order to put the horrors of the Lewis Manor behind them.

Back at the Lewis Manor, thousands of soulless screams could be heard within the decaying walls that were holding that old place together. While two spirits were able to move on from the horrors within, others still continue to be trapped in their hellhole. Their rage and insanity will continue throughout the years. No longer were they humans that had their lives ripped away unfairly but empty rotten shells of their former selves. Righteous thoughts no longer plague their mind and were replaced by pain and anger. All they knew was they didn't deserve this fate and they will make sure others will know of their suffering.

The killer may be gone, but the horror still remains.

* * *

 **That's it guys! I want to thank everyone who's supported me through my first horror story and I'm sorry for the very long delays. It's what happens when you work on multiple stories at one time, and the fact most of your time is taken up by school. But it's almost summer vacation so I can have more time to write before I go away for vacation.**

 **Also, to any one of my viewer that are big fans of my Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossover series, I have a special surprise for you guys in the Summer. Be sure to check out my DeviantArt page for updates.**

 **Goodbye everyone!**


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